Lights, Camera, Action
by DJ LAZA
Summary: [Ed Wood] Ed gets more than he bargained for in a new movie project... Complete Story. Please R
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do now own any of the original characters from the movie Ed Wood

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1

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Cleaning the house on an ordinary old Tuesday, Kathy Wood suddenly heard the telephone ring. She put the feather duster, which she had been using down on the side table and walked over to the telephone table.

Kathy picked up the receiver and answered, "Hello?"

"Hello, Madam. May I speak to a Mr. Edward D. Wood, Junior, please?" The voice of a man asked.

Kathy nodded her head, "Certainly. One moment please." She put the receiver down gently and walked into the next room: The bedroom of her husband, poor film director, Ed Wood.

She looked down at the back of her sleeping husband and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Ed?" She asked. He felt her touch and began to stir. "Ed. It's the phone for you," She said, tapping him again. He turned to face her and stared up, sleepily.

"Who is it?" He asked, groggily.

Kathy shrugged. "I didn't ask. But he sounded important. Well... At least I think he did..."

Ed smiled up at her. "Well, if you say so."

Kathy smiled back and left the room to get on with her cleaning. Ed tossed off the blankets that he had been lying under, stood up, and stretched to reveal his attire of a lacy, pink, female nightgown. He yawned and walked into the living room.

He spotted Kathy busy with her feather duster. Not saying any words, she acknowledged his presence by pointing at the off-the-hook phone. Ed sighed and picked up the receiver. "Hello?" He asked, just as his wife had some minutes before.

"Edward D. Wood, Junior?" The voice asked.

"This is him speaking. Who is this?" Ed asked.

"My name's Howard Brinkley. I--"

Ed's eyes lit up and whatever sleep remaining in his body vanished instantly. "THE Howard Brinkley?" He asked excitedly.

Howard smiled to himself, somewhat annoyed by Ed's interruption, but very much used to it. "Yes. Based on your reaction, though, I'm sure I don't have to explain to you what I do. You're probably familiar with my work already, aren't you?"

"Am I ever!" Ed replied. "Why, you're one of my favorite film directors of all time! You were the one who made 'The Abigail Lindsay Story', you're the one who made 'Firehouse', you're the one who--"

"Yes. I know all the movies I've directed, Edward. I'm glad that you like them, but there's more to why I've called than just to hear you rave about my films."

Ed's smiled somewhat faded, realizing his mistakes. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Brinkley. I had no idea I--"

"That's just fine, Edward. No need to get crazy. Now, the reason I'm calling you is because I have a proposition for you."

"A proposition?" Ed asked, becoming excited all over again.

"Yes. I've uh... seen some of your work and frankly, I... I find it interesting."

"Ya don't say," Ed commented, amazed.

"And there's this project that I'm working on. It's a bit different from all the other movies I've done, so I thought that it would be great if you could assist me with some of it."

"Really? You want ME to help you? I... I'd be honored to, I mean--"

"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines that you'd write and direct the script for me, based along the basic ideas I have formulated."

Ed shook his head. "Golly sir, you've made my day," He said, grinning from ear to ear.

"So does that mean that you accept?" Howard asked.

"Does a lady's Stiletto pump come in three different shades of brown?" Ed asked.

Howard raised an eyebrow. "Does it?"

Ed nodded vigorously. "Oh, it does."

"Thank you, Mr. Wood. I knew I'd be able to count on you. I'll call you again tomorrow to discuss our plans further."

"No. Thank YOU sir. Thank YOU."

Howard smiled and hung up.

Ed removed the receiver from his ear and looked down at it, thoughtfully. He didn't notice Kathy come up behind him.

"What was that all about?" She asked from behind.

Ed snapped out of his trance and jumped from being startled. "Oh, nothing. Just that... THE Howard Brinkley wants me to write and direct his next film!" Ed said, happily.

Kathy's eyes widened just as Ed's had. "That's wonderful news, honey. I'm so proud of you!"

Ed simply smiled back at her. Then he took her hands in his and began to jump up and down excitedly. Kathy joined along, and they jumped together, like two excited schoolgirls.


	2. Chapter 2

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2

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Ed was hardly able to make it through the rest of the day. With the wonderful news that was now on his shoulders, he couldn't concentrate on even the smallest details. All he could think of was the phone call he'd be receiving the next day.

Sitting at the kitchen table, trying to eat a bowl of soup for dinner proved to be one of the hardest things to do when your head was not completely around at the moment. Ed dipped his spoon into the soup and brought it up to his mouth, but transfixed on his latest obsession, his aim was not at its best so he ended up misjudging his shoulder for his mouth. The spoon hit his shoulder, spilling the contents onto his shirt. He didn't notice it, though. Not right away, at least.

"Oh, Ed!" Kathy sighed from across the table, seeing his shirt become stained with soup.

Ed cocked his head to one side, hearing Kathy faintly, and finally came out of his trance. Feeling something hot on his shoulder, "Ow!" He cried, looking down at the wet patch on his shirt.

Kathy quickly got up from the table, grabbed a dishcloth from off the counter, wet it under the sink's faucet, and stood beside Ed. She took the stained material up between her fingers and began rubbing at it with the wet cloth. Ed watched her cleaning his shirt, and began to fall back down into the trance all over again.

"Honey, you've got to be more careful. Who knows, you might end up seriously hurting yourself. And I don't want anything happening to you."

Ed looked up at her, actually it was more like he was staring in her general direction and looking at her, but not exactly AT her. More like THROUGH her. "He's going to call me tomorrow," Ed replied.

Kathy shook her head, looked down at the stained area and decided that it was clean enough. She replaced the dishcloth and took her seat once again. "I'm happy for you Ed, darling. But I hate how you always get so worked up over these things and then they... well they usually don't end up working out." She paused and looked at her distant husband who was still staring in the direction where she had been standing previously even though she was not there anymore.

"He's going to call me tomorrow," Ed replied simply.

Kathy shrugged. "I guess so," She said, somewhat with a sense of doubt in her voice. Then she picked up her spoon and resumed eating her own soup.

Ed stood up suddenly, a blank, smiley expression on his face, and began out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"Where are you going, Ed?" Kathy asked, wiping her mouth with a napkin, and getting up from her place as well. "You didn't finish your soup." She was walking out of the kitchen and towards the living room, when suddenly she heard a large thumping noise. "Ed?" She asked and walked quickly into the living room.

She saw Ed sprawled across the floor knocked out cold. Kathy gasped and went over to his body. She bent down and saw a big bruise mark on his head. She placed a hand over the mark and looked up at the wall to see a slight indentation. Kathy sighed realizing Ed had walked right into the wall. She grabbed one of his limp arms and attempted to drag him to the bedroom, but she was not strong enough to move him. She straightened out and looked at him. He still had the blank, smiley expression on his face. "Well... At least he looks happy..." She said, walked over to the couch, sat down and turned on the TV.


	3. Chapter 3

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3

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Ed woke up the next morning, a throbbing in his head. He reached up, felt the bruised area and winced. Finally, he opened his eyes, and was surprised to find himself not in his bed, but on the living room floor.

He slowly got up and made his way into the bedroom. He looked at Kathy who was asleep in the bed and groaned. "What happened?" He asked, hunching down over her.

Kathy opened her eyes to see Ed staring at her. The bruise on his head looked as though it had worsened overnight. She let out a sad sigh, pulled his head close to hers and began to stroke the bruise softly. "You don't remember? Oh, you were all worked up because that guy, Broccoli, was supposed to call you or something like that."

Ed's eyes widened. "His name is Brinkley. Howard Brinkley," He paused, pulled his head away from her and looked at his watch. "Aw, why didn't you wake me? He could've called while I was out! He could've called and... and... and when no one answered, decided that he'd move on to the next director and then give me a bad reputation-- well, I already have one of those but-- Kathyyy!" He whined.

Kathy got out of bed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't want to hear any more about this guy. He's making you crazy."

"But-But-But--"

Kathy placed a finger over Ed's mouth, silencing him. Then she removed it.

Ed sighed. "I suppose you're right. You always are. And that's why I love you," He said, taking her into his arms and kissing her firmly on the mouth.

She smiled and pulled out of his arms. "I'll go make breakfast," She said, walked out of the bedroom and to the kitchen.

"Sure thing," Ed replied after her. He went over to the closet, grabbed his blonde wig from off the shelf, and walked out of the bedroom as well and into the living room.

He sat down on the chair that was next to the phone table and put on his wig. He placed an arm on the table and impatiently began tapping his fingers in unison along its wood surface. As he did so, he stared at the phone.

Shortly, Kathy called out "Breakfast is ready, Ed!"

Having fallen back into his trance while staring at the phone, he did not hear her.

Kathy waited a minute, then peeked her head out of the kitchen doorway and called once again, "Ed?" She looked around the living room, wondering why Ed was not coming to the kitchen, then saw him sitting in the chair, focusing grandly on the inanimate phone.

"ED!" Kathy yelled, coming into the living room and walking right up to his chair. His eyes never left the phone. "Ed, I thought we agreed that there would be no more of this phone business. Now, there's a nice big breakfast waiting for you on the table. You'd better come before it gets cold."

Ed continued to stare at the phone. "Fine. I'll have to do this the hard way, then." She grabbed his hand and tried to pull him out of the chair, but just as the other day, she was unsuccessful now as well.

She let out a long frustrated growl. "I give up," She said, and returned to the kitchen.

As though nothing had happened, Ed continued to stare at the phone.


	4. Chapter 4

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4

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As the hours passed by, Kathy went about on her normal everyday activities and Ed, he remained seated next to the phone, staring at it blankly.

Returning from the market, Kathy entered the house to see Ed still staring. She walked past him with the grocery bags and right into the kitchen.

She made dinner and didn't even bother calling Ed, for she knew that he wouldn't listen.

When the clock struck eleven, Kathy slipped into a nightgown and finally went over to Ed. She stood behind his chair and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, dear. Some guys can be real big jerks."

Ed partially came out of his trance state at her words. Not taking his eyes off of the phone, he said softly, "He's going to call me."

Kathy shook her head and moved to in front of the chair. "No, Ed. No he isn't. Please, come to bed with me. I'll let you wear my pink nightie," She said and offered him a smile.

Ed slowly, but finally managed to peel his gaze away from the telephone. "He... He..." Ed stood up from the chair and threw himself into his wife's arms. "He told me."

Kathy held him and rubbed her hand along his back. "I know." Then she took him by the hand, and this time was able to lead him back to the bedroom with her.

Ed removed his wig and changed into the lacy, pink nightgown and then they both went to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

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5

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The next morning, Ed was awakened by the sound of the phone ringing. Suddenly, he realized that it could be Mr. Brinkley calling for him! He sprung out of bed, ran to the living room, his nightgown flowing, and picked up the receiver. "Mr. Brinkley?" He asked, excitedly.

"No. This is West Side Insurance Agency," A man said.

Ed's heart sunk. "Oh. Hello. What can I do for you?"

"Mr. Wood, I'm afraid I have some bad news: You're three months behind in your insurance fees. If we don't receive the money by the end of the month, we'll have to terminate your plan, thus creating a fee for ending the contract before its actual closing date," The man explained.

Ed placed a hand to his mouth. "Gee, I... I'm terribly sorry for your trouble. I'll see to it that a check's mailed out to you right away."

"Alright. That's all I wanted to hear. Thank you, Mr. Wood. Goodbye," The man said, and hung up.

Ed hung up as well. He stared down at the phone, forgetting about the insurance company and only remembering Mr. Brinkley. "I knew it was too good to be true," he said softly and began back to the bedroom.

As he neared the doorway, the phone rang again. Ed looked off in the direction of the phone table with a raised eyebrow. It continued to ring.

He slowly walked back and picked up the receiver. "Hello?" He asked, sadly.

"Edward? It's Howard Brinkley."

Ed's grip faltered on the receiver and it fell out of his hand and onto the floor. He gasped and scrambled to pick it back up quickly.

"Hello? Mr. Brinkley? Are you still there?" Ed asked, nervously.

"I take it you're excited at my call?" Howard asked, with a chuckle.

"Oh, yes. Very," Ed replied.

"Now, Edward. I'm extremely sorry for not calling you yesterday like I said I would. Something came up, though. I'm sure you understand."

"Oh, yeah, yeah. I understand... It's... It's not like I waited by the phone all day or anything," Ed said and faked a laugh.

Howard laughed back. "Good, good. Well, now that we're talking, we have to discuss our plans for the film. Now, I don't have a working title or anything. But I want to tell you the basic plot so you have something to go along with when you write the script. So, go get a pen and a pad of paper so you can take down the notes I give you."

"Okay. Hold on," Ed said, excitedly. He ran to the kitchen, grabbed a pen and a pad of paper from a drawer, and ran back to the phone. "I've got them."

"Perfect. Now take this down; the characters consist of only five people. There's Robert, a quirky english professor at a high school and he really has his eye on one of the students, Regina, but what he doesn't know is that she's a werewolf! And there are these two police officers and they're onto the whole thing. Regina's grandmother is the only person she's told her secret to, and the police officers are always hounding her for info, but little do they know that she's a werewolf too! So have you got it all?" Howard asked.

Ed finished scrawling down the last note. "Yes. I've got everything down. Sounds interesting already."

"Okay. We're gonna meet tomorrow to talk about it further. I find talking with someone in person works much better than on the phone."

"Yes."

"How about we meet down at McGinty's Diner all the way down on Pavilion Street, tomorrow, noonish. How's that?"

"Absolutely flawless," Ed replied. "Absolutely flawless."

"Okay. Well, anyways, I gotta go now. I'll see you tomorrow," Howard said.

"Goodbye, Mr. Brinkley."

"Goodbye, Edward."

They both hung up. Ed was porting the ear to ear grin once more. He walked back to the bedroom and called out, "Oh, Kathy. Guess who that was on the phone."

Kathy awoke and sat up in the bed. "Oh no..."

"That's right. Mr. Howard Brinkley just called me. He was too busy to call me yesterday, but we're meeting tomorrow at McGinty's Diner," Ed announced, proudly.

"So I was... wrong?" Kathy asked, as though she could not believe it.

"So you were wrong," Ed assured, nodding his head.

Kathy shrugged. "Well, everyone makes mistakes, I guess. I'm so sorry for doubting you, honey. Come here so I can make it all better."

Ed stared at her for a moment, then gave in and crawled onto the bed. Kathy placed her arm around his back and cuddled him close to her. Then with her free hand, she stroked his hair. "You... you just get so worked up over things. I didn't want you to get hurt. You understand, don't you?"

"I understand."

They continued their embrace for a few more minutes then Kathy noticed that Ed had fallen asleep. She laughed silently to herself, moved Ed off of her and got out of the bed slowly. Then she covered him with the bed's blankets, leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, and left the room.


	6. Chapter 6

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6

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The next day, Ed walked along Pavilion Street. As he reached the building that was McGinty's Diner, he stopped outside and took a moment to look at the appearance of the place. It was a fine looking building and he liked the way it had been made up.

Finally, he walked to the door and entered, looking around for Brinkley. Ed did not see him though, so he took a seat in one of the booths.

He rolled up his sleeve, looked at his watch and noticed that he was two hours too early. He sighed, thinking that it was better to be too early than too late and rolled back down his sleeve. As he finished, he looked up to see a waitress in front of his table.

"What's it going to be?" She asked, chewing gum.

"Um... I think I'm going to order a bit later. How about I just call you when I'm ready?"

The waitress chewed at him, shrugged, then walked away.

Ed was happy, and waited out the next two hours staring out the window of the diner at the passers-by on the sidewalk outside.

Suddenly, he felt a tapping on his shoulder. He thought it was the waitress and said, "Sorry, Miss. But I'm still not ready yet."

Howard Brinkley cleared his throat and Ed turned away from the window to see him standing there. "Oh! Mr. Brinkley! I'm sorry, I thought you were the waitress."

Howard sat down. "It's perfectly fine," He said, extending his hand and shaking Ed's rapidly. "But... speaking of waitresses, how about we order something? I'm a bit hungry."

"Sure," Ed said, although he knew perfectly well that he was in no mood to eat. He was just too excited about talking with Howard Brinkley in person.

Howard nodded and raised his hand to signal the waitress. "Oh, Miss!" He called. The waitress turned in Howard's direction, chewed at him, and then slowly made her way over.

"Yeah?" She asked, flipping open her notepad.

Howard turned to Ed. "Edward, what would you like?"

"Uh.. Me? W-Uh-Hmm.. I... whatever you're having."

Howard smiled at him and turned back to the waitress. "We'll have two orders of Combo Number Seven please."

The waitress chewed in response, scribbled down the info and trudged away.

"Combo Number Seven?" Ed asked.

"Barbecue ribs and chili fries!" Howard said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"Barbecue ribs and chili fries..." Ed repeated. He could literally feel his stomach doing back flips inside of him. "Tasty," he said, forcing a smile.

"Yep. Now, about that movie." Howard reached into his coat pocket and produced a notebook. "Here's all the stuff I made you take down yesterday in case you didn't get it all. You'll see that this is a lot more detailed, though." He held the book out to Ed.

Ed took it with a shaking hand and opened to the first page. He looked it over and nodded to himself.

"So, that's to get you started on the script. I'm looking for a movie that's at least about ninety minutes long, so keep that in mind-- Well it's written in there, but I'm just letting you know. Oh, and I'll need the script by the end of the month so we can start shooting right away. Do you think you can handle that?"

Ed looked up from the book and at Howard. "Oh, Mr. Brinkley, I've written one hundred and twenty minute movie scripts in a week. I'm sure I can handle this."

Howard raised his brow, impressed. "Good, good. You're a good kid." He said, belting him a friendly hit on the back.

Having not expected Howard to do that, Ed was thrust forward, hitting his chest on the edge of the table, and knocking the wind out of him. With his eyes bulging, he straightened up and swallowed. "Th-Thanks," He managed to get out.

The waitress returned carrying a tray with their order on it. She carelessly put the plates of food down on the table, splashing Ed in the face with barbecue sauce.

Ed took his napkin, dabbed at his face, then replaced it. As he looked up, the waitress was gone and Howard was chin-high in ribs and fries.

Ed sighed and picked up a French fry. He slowly placed it into his mouth and began to chew.

Howard looked up from his plate. "Wassuh maher, Edwer? Ya naw hungry?" Howard asked, his mouth full of food making his speech very difficult to comprehend.

"No, I... I'm hungry. See?" Ed said, picking up a rib and touching it with the tip of his tongue.

"If ya seey so," Howard said, then went back to his eating.

Ed knew that he had to eat something. It was improper to just sit there and waste all of the food in front of him. So he picked up the rib again and bit off some of the meat. It was not that bad. He bit off some more, and decided that he might be able to finish it. He knew he'd be sick from it later, though.

As he was taking another bite, the denture plate of his four front teeth fell out of his mouth and onto the fries on his plate. Ed looked down at it in horror. What would Howard think of him!

Howard noticed and pointed a finger at it. "Whassat?" He asked, an eyebrow raised.

Ed picked up his dentures and slipped them back into his mouth. "Just my uh... dentures. Don't worry, though, they fall out often, it's normal," Ed assured, praying that Howard wouldn't freak out. He took in a deep breath and held it in.

Howard was silent for a moment, then finally he lowered his eyebrow. "Oh. Okay," He said, and went back to eating.

Ed let out his breath and was incredibly relieved. He put down the bone of the ribs he had finished and picked up a new one.

"Do you have any actors in mind for the parts?" Ed asked.

Howard looked up and his mouth wasn't so full anymore. "Huh? Oh, not really. You can be in charge of that, too."

Ed nodded and ate some French fries. "What about budget?" He asked.

Howard put down his rib and looked at Ed for a moment. "I... I only have a budget of two thousand dollars for you, Edward. I'm sorry."

Ed nodded slowly. "Two thousand dollars? Well, that's a start at least. I've had to do movies on donation basis before, but they all ended up working out one way or another."

"Really? So, two thousand will be good enough for you?" Howard asked. "You're just the best guy ever. How can I make this up to you?"

Ed smiled, modestly. "You don't have to do anything. It's enough pleasure just to talk to you right now."

Howard looked down at his plate and saw that he had finished his food. He frowned, picked up his napkin and began cleaning up. "You've got a good heart, you know that? A good heart. I don't care what you say, I'm going to make everything up to you."

Ed simply smiled back at him and ate a French fry.


	7. Chapter 7

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7

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Howard and Ed walked out of the diner and stood on the sidewalk in front of it, just as Ed had done before he came in.

Howard clapped a hand over Ed's shoulder. "So, I'm gonna call you in a month for the script. You're really sure you can handle all of it?" Howard asked.

Ed nodded. "Sure as sugar."

Howard nodded back. "Say, you've got a wife, right? Well, how about you bring the Misses over to my house. You can have dinner with me and my wife. What day's good for you?"

Ed looked at Howard, astonished. The thought of setting foot inside THE Howard Brinkley's house, let alone having dinner with him gave him tingly feelings all over. "Why, whatever day's good for you, of course, Mr. Brinkley!"

Howard grinned at him. "You swell kid. How about Tuesday?"

Ed nodded vigorously. "Tuesday is good."

"Then Tuesday it is." Howard removed his hand from Ed's shoulder and reached into his pocket. He brought out a card and placed it in Ed's hand. "That's my address. I guess I'll be seeing you then. Come around four thirty or something." He turned around and began to walk away down the sidewalk.

Ed watched Howard's figure recede into the distance, then began down the sidewalk opposite the direction Howard had taken. As he walked, he suddenly remembered the card and looked down at it. It read:

FILM DIRECTOR

MR. HOWARD R. BRINKLEY

765 ROSEDALE AVE.

HOLLYWOOD

CALIFORNIA

PUTTING A SPIN ON YOUR EVERYDAY MOVIE SINCE 1938.

Ed smiled down at the card. There was the silhouette of a film camera to the right of the text that was written on the card.

All of a sudden, Ed felt himself hit something. He looked up, startled, and saw a man.

"Hey! Watch it, Mister," The man yelled, walking out of Ed's path.

Ed turned around to the fleeing man. "Sorry!" He called to the man's back.

The man did not turn around.


	8. Chapter 8

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8

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Ed stepped into his house, shutting the door behind him. He was so worked up from his time with Howard Brinkley that his judgement was all off, so he slammed the door by accident, causing him to jump from the noise. As he jumped, he tipped over the umbrella basket, which stood next to the doorway. His and his wife's umbrellas toppled out and in front of Ed's path. Having not seen them do so, he took a step forward, but tripped on the umbrellas and fell face first onto the floor.

He stumbled to his feet, rubbing at his jawline. "Honey. I'm home!" He called.

His wife appeared from the kitchen holding a pan. "Oh, hello dear. What was all that noise I just heard?" She looked past him and saw the toppled umbrella basket with the umbrellas lying on the floor then she looked back at Ed who was still rubbing at his jaw. She approached him. "You didn't... don't tell me you..." She placed a hand on his jaw. "Aww, honey!"

"It was nothing," Ed assured her, removing her hand from his jaw and placing it at her side. He stepped past her, took his coat off and draped it over the side of the couch.

Kathy followed him and picked up the coat. "I told you to hang it in the closet. When are you gonna learn?" She asked, walking to the closet, frying pan in one hand, coat in the other. She put the coat away, then walked back to Ed.

"So, what did big shot Mr. Brinkley discuss with my husband?" She asked.

Ed took his hand off his jaw and looked at Kathy. "Well, we discussed the elements of the film I'm helping him with. He wants me to write the script in a month, I can pick out the actors that I want for the parts, and he's even giving me two thousand dollars to start me off for the budget!" Ed explained. He was so excited, his speech was sped up and he was fumbling over words.

"Ed, just slow down. Is what you just told me a good thing or a bad thing?" She asked, looking at Ed with an eyebrow raised.

"Why, it's a good thing, sweetpea-- No... a GREAT thing!"

"Okay... Just don't overwork yourself for this guy. There are more important things in life, you know," Kathy told him, waving the frying pan at him.

Ed placed his grip on the frying pan and pulled Kathy close to him with it. "I know that. I'm looking at one of those things right now." He pulled her head to his and they kissed.

"Oh, Ed," Kathy said, modestly, her cheeks flushing to rose. She giggled and started toward the kitchen. "I'll call you when dinner's ready, you big hunk," she said and disappeared into the kitchen.

Ed walked to the bedroom, flexing his sore jaw, and opened the closet. He took out his 'Writing outfit': An outfit which consisted of his favorite pink angora sweater, a black skirt, black high heeled shoes, and a blonde wig. He believed that the outfit enhanced his writing skills and truly brought out the best of him.

He grabbed the typewriter from off of the top shelf of the closet and set it on the bed, then he changed into his 'Writing outfit' and along with the typewriter, went back to the living room. He set the typewriter down on the side table, pulled out the chair, sat down in front of it.

He looked at the machine with hardly any clue of where to start on the new assignment. Impatiently, he tapped his fingers on the table. Then he remembered the notebook Howard had given him, and sprung to his feet to retrieve it.

Ed opened the closet, which contained his coat and he reached a hand into the inner pocket, where he had placed the notebook when he was at the diner. Suddenly, Ed's eyes went wide, his mouth dropped: The notebook was gone!

Ed swallowed and decided to try retracing his steps. Maybe he had not actually placed it in his coat, like he had thought? Maybe it was still in the diner? No, he remembered placing it in his coat pocket therefore it meant that it had to have slipped out somewhere along the line. But where? How could a notebook have just--

And then it hit him: He had bumped into a man while walking home.

Ed placed a hand over his mouth and gasped. He had to get the book back! He just had to! He only prayed that it was still there.

Ed placed his coat on and ran out of the house, the tails of the coat flapping vibrantly in the wind, high heels clicking on the pavement, the wind blowing the hair of his blonde wig all around his face. He ran all along the pathway on the sidewalk that he had taken for his trip to McGinty's Diner for his meeting with Howard Brinkley.

He stopped as he reached the diner. He had looked along the sidewalk as he had run, but there was nothing. He stood, chest heaving, trying to catch his breath.

He let out a whimper. "Oh, fiddlesticks," He muttered, snapping his fingers. "Mr. Brinkley's not gonna be too happy with this," He added, shaking his head to himself.

He trudged all the way back home and re-entered the house. Forgetting his wife's demand, he draped his coat over the couch and plopped himself down on the chair in front of the typewriter. He placed his hands over the keys and began to think of what Mr. Brinkley had told him...

'Now, take this down; the characters consist of only five people. There's Robert, a quirky english professor at a high school and he really has his eye on one of the students, Regina, but what he doesn't know is that she's a werewolf! And there are these two police officers and they're onto the whole thing. Regina's grandmother is the only person she's told her secret to, and the police officers are always hounding her for info, but little do they know that she's a werewolf too! So have you got it all?'

Ed nodded to himself and struck the keys of the typewriter, attempting to start the script. But when he looked down at the paper, it was still blank. Ed raised an eyebrow, removed the paper from its slot, and stared at it.

The typewriter was out of ink; He'd have to go all the way back to town to purchase a new typewriter ribbon. "Fiddlesticks!" He said, angrily. He smacked the side of the typewriter and hurt his finger. "Ow!" He yelled, jumping to his feet. As he got up, he hit his thigh on the table. "Owww!" He cried, sucking on his finger and rubbing at his thigh with the other hand.

Kathy came out of the kitchen. "What's all this noise out here?" She asked. She saw Ed, obviously injured yet again. "You hurt yourself AGAIN?"

Ed stopped sucking on his finger and rubbing his thigh, crossed his arms over his pink angora sweatered chest and pouted at Kathy. "My typewriter's out of ink," He said, sounding like a child. "And... and I lost something very important Mr. Brinkley gave me."

He removed his arms from his chest and placed the back of one hand over his forehead, dramatically. "Oh, Kathy. What am I going do?"

"You certainly are quite the drama queen," Kathy said, smiling to herself. "What you're going to do is forget about the whole thing and come have dinner with me."

Ed looked at Kathy and pouted once more.


	9. Chapter 9

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9

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Kathy entered the kitchen, Ed following behind, both sets of heels clicking against the tiled floor. Ed slumped down into his chair and rested his head in his hands on the table.

Kathy pulled her tray of meatloaf from the oven and a different tray holding bread, then turned to Ed. She pointed at him with an oven-mit covered hand. "Elbows off the table."

Ed quickly straightened up. "Much better," Kathy said, placing the bread tray on the table. She scooped a chunk of meatloaf onto his plate, then onto hers. After placing the tray on the counter, she sat down at the opposite end of the table.

Ed picked up his fork and dug it into the meatloaf. What was he going to do about the notebook Mr. Brinkley had given him? The thought plagued his mind.

"Speaking of Mr. Brinkley..." Ed suddenly said aloud.

Kathy was about to eat the chunk of meatloaf from off her fork. But when Ed spoke she put her fork down confusedly and looked at him. "No one was speaking of Mr. Brinkley, what's gotten into you?"

"Well, now that we are, I forgot to tell you."

"Forgot to tell me what?" Kathy asked.

"Mr. Brinkley ever so kindly invited us over to his house for dinner on Tuesday! Isn't that swell?"

"Yeah. Swell. Mmhmm..." Kathy replied, being sarcastic.

Ed didn't pick up on her sarcasm. "I know! It's just the greatest thing ever. I'm so excited, I can't wait." He paused. "I wonder what his house looks like..." Ed said, dreamily, staring off into the distance.

"Just peachy, I'm assuming..." Kathy replied, the sarcasm in her voice coming out more than before.

"He really is peachy... I wonder if he likes peaches..." Ed said in the dreamy voice, still staring distantly.

Kathy raised a hand to Ed's dreamy expression and began snapping her fingers. "Ed, Ed. Eat your supper, darling."

Ed shook off his state and shoved some meatloaf into his mouth. He raised a thumb up to Kathy. "Good meatloaf," Ed complimented with his mouth full.

Kathy sighed. "Don't talk with your mouth full, honey. It's not polite."

Ed nodded and swallowed his mouthful. He put down the fork and extended his arm to the bread tray.

"Careful now, they're pretty hot," Kathy warned. "You should really be using your napkin."

"Come on now, Kathy. I really don't think--" His hand made contact with the bread, immediately issuing a burst of heat and pain through his hand. "OW!" Ed yelled, pulling his burning hand back quickly from the bread.

Kathy placed her hands over her mouth and gasped. "Ed!"

He quickly sank his injured hand into his glass of water and sighed with relief, being partially dismissed from the burning sensation.

Kathy looked at his method of healing and shrugged.


	10. Chapter 10

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10

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The next day Ed sat at the living room side table in front of the inkless typewriter. He stared down at it for a while, then switched his gaze to his bandaged hand.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Kathy suddenly enter the room carrying a basket full of clothing for the laundry.

"Kathyyy..." Ed whined.

Kathy stopped. "Yes, Ed?"

"Um..." He scratched his head with his good hand. "Can you go to the store to get me a new typewriter ribbon?" He asked.

Kathy put the basket down and stood with her hands on her hips. "Why can't you go yourself?" She asked.

"I'm injured, Kathy," Ed said, holding his bandaged hand up for her to see.

She frowned at him. "Oh pooh, it's just a burn. You're acting like you're deformed or something."

"Oh, but I AM," Ed argued, nodding. "I really am, Kathy. Now, can you be a dear and just do this one little thing for me? Please?" He asked in an innocent voice. He looked at her with puppy dog eyes.

She stared at him; hands still on her hips. He was just too cute. Her frown slowly transformed into a smile. She bent down and picked up the laundry basket. "Okay, Ed. I'll go. But next time you're on your own." She walked into the bedroom to put away the basket and retrieve her coat.

"Thank you Kathyyy!" Ed called to her


	11. Chapter 11

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11

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Shortly, Kathy arrived home from the store. She walked up to Ed and dropped the paper bag, which contained the typewriter ribbon onto his lap. "Here you are."

"Thanks, Kathy."

"Yeah, yeah. Now don't ask for anything else."

Ed looked down at the bag and clutched it in his grip. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it, sugar dumpling."

Kathy walked out of the room to continue her laundry. Meanwhile, Ed fumbled with the packaging of the ribbon. Finally managing to get it open using one hand, he attempted to put the ribbon in the slot.

He was unable to, though, and furrowed his brow. Then he realized why: Like an idiot, he had forgotten to remove the old ribbon first. Ed placed the new ribbon off to the side, then reached his hand into the machine to remove the old inkless typewriter ribbon. After a few tries, he was successful, and pulled the old thing out.

He held it up and looked at it scornfully. "That's the last time you try to undermine my writing."

The ribbon did not reply.

He tossed it into the waste bin and reached for the new ribbon. He tried once again to place the new ribbon into the machine and managed to complete the task. He sighed in relief.

He typed a few practice sentences on the machine just to warm up the new ribbon. When he was satisfied that everything was in perfect shape and there would be no smudging or anything on the paper, he tossed the test sheet into the wastebasket and stared at the typewriter, wondering what to write.

Ed impatiently began to play with his face, thinking and thinking for an idea... But it was useless. Nothing came to him. He couldn't write anything knowing that Mr. Brinkley's notes were missing.

Ed began to throw a tantrum. "Why is everything bad happening to me!" He cried. "Why can't anything just happen without any problems?" He squealed and slammed his good hand down on the table.

His hand interacted with the stack of typewriter paper that was lying out on the table, and it knocked over onto the floor, sending white sheets fluttering down. He growled girlishly, bent down and got on all fours under the table so that he could gather all of the paper.

After he had re-organized the sheets back into a neat little stack, he placed the stack under his arm and began out from under the table. As he raised, he hit his head on the wood of the table. "Ahh!" He screamed, losing the stack of paper from under his arm and letting it flutter all around him again. He grabbed his aching head with his injured hand, forgetting about the burn. On contact, both the bruise on his head, and the burn on his hand stung intensely. Ed began to cry.


	12. Chapter 12

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12

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"Come on, Kathy. We're going to be late for dinner with Mr. Brinkley!" Ed called; standing outside the closed bedroom door, all set to leave.

Kathy opened the door, fiddling with her ear trying to get an earring in. Ed stood in the doorway, looked down at her feet and saw she was shoeless.

"Why aren't you ready? We're going to be late," he said, looking at his watch.

Kathy got the earring in, then glanced at a nearby clock. "It's only two fifteen! What time did he say to come over, again?"

"Mr. Brinkley distinctly said four thirty or something."

"Well... doesn't that mean we have over two hours left?" Kathy asked.

"He said four thirty OR SOMETHING, Kathy. Four thirty OR SOMETHING."

"Oh, 'something'... well then, heres 'something' for you," She said, and slammed the bedroom door in Ed's face.

Ed shrugged. "I wonder what's gotten into her?" He said quietly to himself. He heard a growl from the other side of the door and inched away a bit.

An hour later, Ed and Kathy walked along the sidewalk, all made up, on their way to film director Howard Brinkley's house.

As they turned the corner, they came to the residence. Ed gasped. "I... am looking... at THE Howard Brinkley's house." He clutched a hand over his chest. "I think I'm going to faint."

Kathy gave him a look, then took his hand from his chest and led him up the walkway and to the front door of the house. She used the fancy little knocker that was placed on the door and they waited.

All of a sudden the door opened and Howard was standing there. He looked at the couple dumbfounded, then placed his glasses on and realized who they were.

"Edward! How nice to see you!" Howard said, throwing a hand Ed's way and shaking his rapidly, just like at the diner.

Howard placed his gaze in the direction of Kathy. "And this, I'm assuming, is Mrs. Wood?" He asked, taking her hand and planting a kiss on its backside.

Kathy giggled.

"I'm glad you came but..." Howard rolled up his sleeve to look at his watch. "Why are you so early?"

"Early?" Ed asked. He looked down at his own watch and saw that it was only a quarter to four. "Oh, I guess I was so thrilled that you had invited me that I hadn't noticed."

"You can say that again," Kathy commented.

They all laughed.

Howard moved out of the way and gestured to the inside of the house. "Come in, come in. Make yourself at home."

Ed smiled radiantly at Howard as though he were in love with him. Kathy saw his expression, rolled her eyes, walked past Ed and Howard, and into the living room. Ed followed then Howard, who shut the door.

Ed and Kathy stood in the middle of the living room, not knowing what to do.

Howard pointed toward the couch. "Have a seat. I'm going to go get my wife." He left the room and started down the hall.

Kathy began to the couch, thinking Ed was behind her. But when she turned around, she saw he was still standing in the middle of the room, staring at his surroundings with that distant, but happy look over his face.

Kathy frowned, walked back, and pulled Ed by the sleeve over to the couch. He followed absently, still staring at the house. Kathy pushed him down on the couch, then sat down next to him.

Howard and a pretty, dark-haired woman wearing a red dress appeared at the mouth of the hall. Kathy looked up and smiled. Ed was still lost.

Howard and his wife walked into the living room and sat in the loveseat that faced the couch. "This is my wife, Nadia," Howard introduced, pointing at the lady.

Nadia extended her hand to Kathy, "Pleasure to meet you...?" She said, with a voice that was thick with a Latin accent.

Kathy shook it. "It's Kathy. Likewise."

Nadia nodded, put her hand out to Ed. "Pleasure to meet you... Ed is it?"

Ed was off in his own world. Kathy jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow and he straightened up to see Nadia's hand. He placed his in hers and shook rapidly. "Oh, yes. Yes it is. P-Pleasure to meet you, Madam."

Nadia gave Howard a confused look, then took her hand away from Ed.

"Well. Now that we've all been introduced... Edward, tell me how work has been coming along on the script."

"Oh. Um... It's been good," Ed said, scratching behind his ear nervously.

Howard nodded slowly. "How much would you say you have done?"

"Um... well, you see... the thing is... I haven't written anything down yet."

Howard raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"I... um... I've tried to write it. Plenty of times even! It's just that it's hard because..." He paused and looked down at his feet, ashamed. "Because I lost the book of notes you gave me."

Howard shook his head in disappointment, reached into the drawer of the table that was next to the loveseat, and pulled something out. "You mean this notebook?" He asked.

Ed raised his head and looked up at Howard to see that he was holding the notebook. "Yes! Wha.. I... I don't understand."

"When I got home after our lunch and told Nadia about our dinner, she told me we didn't have anymore wine in the house. So I had to go back out, and on the way to the liquor store, I found this just lying around on the sidewalk like a piece of trash," Howard explained, shaking the book at Ed.

Ed felt his face get hot. "Oh, I see. Well, I was just so excited about everything lately and I wanted to get home quickly to start. I was so riled up, I bumped into a man on the way home, and I guess it knocked the notebook right out of my coat."

Howard nodded. "Mmhmm."

"Oh, Mr. Brinkley, please forgive me," Ed whined.

Howard got up from the loveseat and placed the notebook on Ed's lap, then returned to his spot. "No need to get crazy. It's an honest mistake. No harm done."

"Thank you, Mr. Brinkley. Thank you!"

Kathy looked over at Ed and rolled her eyes.

Howard looked down at his watch. "Oh, it's four thirty. Nadia, why don't you go check on the dinner now, so it's ready for five?"

Nadia nodded, got up, and headed off to the kitchen.

Howard looked at Kathy and Ed. "So..."

"So," Kathy replied.

Ed looked down at his bandaged hand and saw that it was oozing... _something_. He jumped and let out a gasp.

Kathy placed a hand on his knee. "What's the matter, honey?"

"My-My hand... it's..." He looked at Howard. "Where's the washroom?"

"Down the hall, first left."

"Thanks," Ed said springing to his feet and walking rapidly down the hall.

He turned on the first left and entered the room, only to let out a gasp.


	13. Chapter 13

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13

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He had walked into the kitchen by accident. He saw Nadia taking out a chicken from the oven and placing it on the table. She heard the gasp and looked up to see Ed standing in the doorway.

"I'm-I'm so sorry. I was looking for the washroom. Can you tell me where it is?"

Nadia smiled at him. "There is no need to apologize," Nadia said with her Latin accent. She took off her oven mitts, placed them on the table and approached him. "I could use some help in here."

Ed held onto his bandaged hand. "Oh. Would you like me to get Kathy for you?"

Nadia shook her head. "No. You'll do just fine."

"Umm.. Okay... Can you tell me where the washroom is first, though? Because my hand--"

Nadia looked down at his bandaged hand and placed it in hers. "Ohh! You poor thing! What happened?" She asked, rubbing his hand.

Ed felt very uncomfortable. "I burned it."

"Well, I'm going to fix it all up for you," She said, smiling.

She pulled him over to the counter. "Now you just stay right here." She walked out of the room and returned shortly with a container of disinfectant, box of tissues and a roll of bandage.

She lay his hand out on the counter and began unraveling the old bandage.

"You really don't have to do this. I--"

She placed a finger over his mouth. "Shh.."

Ed shut his mouth and watched as Nadia fixed up his wound. When she was done she took all the things she had brought and went to put them back.

She returned to him. "All better?"

"Yes. Thank you. But..." He looked down at his watch and saw it was ten minutes to five. "You should really focus on dinner now. Mr. Brinkley said five o'clock."

"Aww. You're just too cute," She said, playfully tapping him on the nose with her finger.

Ed backed away from her. "Mrs. Brinkley, I hardly think--"

She advanced on him. He continued to move backward, but he could go no farther when he bumped up against the edge of the table.

Nadia closed her arms around his neck. "Kiss me, Ed."

Ed was shocked. His eyes bulged and he squirmed out of her grip.

"Oh, a feisty one. I see," She said. "Well, you can squirm away all you want, you're not going to get away from me that easily," She said devilishly.

"Mrs. Brinkley! You're a married woman! I'm a married man!"

"Call me Nadia," She said and suddenly pushed him backwards onto the table.

Ed was at a loss for words. He tried to get up, but Nadia climbed up onto the table, pushed him back down and sat on him.

She grabbed him by the tie, bent her head down to his and began to kiss him madly.

Ed's hands went thrashing about on the table and began knocking various boxes and utensils to the ground. All of a sudden, his hand hit the pot, which held the chicken and it upturned onto the floor and made a large crash.

Nadia pried herself away from Ed and looked down at the upturned pot on the floor. She angrily banged a fist on the table. "Ohh, There goes dinner."

Ed, porting a look of complete shock over his face, along with smears of red lipstick, began to apologize. "It was my fault. I'm so sorry. I'm so--"

She looked back at him and let go of his tie. "No, it's my fault. I'm the one who's sorry." She got off of him, returned to the floor, adjusted her dress, and began cleaning up the mess.

Ed slowly got to his feet and bent down next to her to help.

She looked at him. "No, you don't have to help."

Ed nodded his head.

"You... you got a little something there..." Nadia said, raising a hand and trying to wipe the smears of lipstick off of his face.

He stood still as she did so.

"I'm sorry. It's just that Howard is so... I don't know. We just don't ever do anything... _wild_.. You know? And you're just so good looking..."

She turned his head to the left and to the right to inspect if all the lipstick was gone. "There."

Ed scooped the remaining mess into the chicken pot, stood up, and placed it in the sink. "What are you going to do about dinner?"

Nadia got up, wiped her hands, and shrugged. "I'll think of something. You should go on back now, they're probably wondering what's happened to you."

"Sure you don't need any help?" Ed asked.

Nadia shook her head, walked over to Ed and kissed him on the cheek. "You're sweet. Kathy's a very lucky woman."

Ed trudged out of the kitchen, tense from his latest 'adventure'. He walked into the living room and sat next to Kathy. He was silent.

"What took you so long?" Kathy asked.

Ed cleared his throat. "I dropped something and had to clean it up. Sorry, Mr. Brinkley."

"Well, as long as everything's back in place, it's fine by me," Howard said. He looked down at his watch. "Ooh, it's five o'clock. Come, let's all go to the dining room," Howard said, getting up from the loveseat. "We're having chicken tonight," He said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

Ed and Kathy stood up as well and they all went down the hall toward the dining room. "I'm not so sure about that," Ed replied.


	14. Chapter 14

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14

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Kathy and Ed sat on one side of the dining room table; Howard sat on the other, next to an empty spot reserved for Nadia. The spot just happened to be right in front of Ed.

He knew this was going to be a bad idea.

Kathy looked at Ed with a raised eyebrow. "Ed, why is your tie all out of place? And your shirt is coming untucked. And... you've got something on your face."

Ed's eyes went wide. "Oh, um..." He adjusted his tie, fixed his shirt, and wiped at his face.

Kathy sighed. "Must I always do everything?" She asked, adjusting his tie. Then, similar to what Nadia had done, Kathy cleaned up his face.

"Thank you, Kathy."

"You're welcome... I don't know how you could've gotten so out of place, though."

_Thank God!_ Ed thought.

Suddenly, Nadia came through the doorway with a trolley. She placed the various plates and bowls on the table, then sat down in front of Ed.

Howard looked disappointedly at a pot of soup, picked up the spoon and moved it through the water. "Honey, I thought you said you were going to make chicken," He said, putting the spoon down.

"Did I? Oh, what I meant to say was chicken SOUP. Besides, we always have chicken. I thought soup would be interesting for once."

Howard put on a fake smile. "Yes, but you make such good chicken, Nadia, I wanted our guests to see what a wonderful little cook you are."

"I don't see why they can't see that with soup."

"Nadia, I--"

"It's okay, Mr. Brinkley. Really. It is. Kathy and I adore soup, don't you honey?" Ed cut in.

Kathy nodded violently. "Yes! We love soup!"

Nadia smiled, satisfied. "See?"

Howard crossed his arms over his chest. "I like chicken," He said simply, in a tone that sounded very much like that of a child who hasn't gotten a toy it has wanted.

"Well, if Ed likes soup, then that's all that matters," Nadia said, winking at Ed.

Ed's uncomfortable feelings were returning. He only hoped Kathy hadn't seen her wink.

Though he couldn't help thinking that Nadia's accent was extremely sexy, including plenty of _other things _of hers as well. Ed looked down at his feet, feeling guilty about the thoughts he was thinking.

Nadia stood up and grabbed the pot of soup, then began spooning soup into each of their bowls.

When Ed looked up from his feet, he saw that as Nadia was bending over the table, distributing the soup, a fair amount of her cleavage was viewable.

He gasped and looked back at his feet.


	15. Chapter 15

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15

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Nadia lifted her spoon to her mouth and sipped some of the soup. "So, what's the movie going to be about, Howard?" She asked.

Howard smiled and began, "Well, it's all about this english professor who likes this werewolf girl and..."

Ed suddenly felt something on his leg. He looked down and saw Nadia's foot bumping into his leg. He looked up at her, confused. She smiled at him and continued to kick him playfully.

Ed raised an eyebrow at her. Nadia covered her mouth with a hand and giggled silently.

"... and go to-- Nadia, are you even listening to me?" Howard asked.

Nadia looked away from Ed and to Howard. "Yes, Howard. I am. It's very interesting, please continue."

"Okay..." Howard said, with a bit of doubt in his voice. "So the cops go to the grandmother to question her about..."

Nadia looked back at Ed and kicked him again. Ed sighed and picked up his spoon, but as he reached for it, it slipped away from him and fell to the floor.

"Excuse me," Ed said, getting out of his seat and onto the floor on all fours.

"... But she's a werewolf too so they have a..."

Ed fumbled around underneath the table, looking for his spoon. As he was looking, he paused at the sight of Nadia's soft, silky legs. He reached out a hand to touch them, then hesitated and pulled it back.

He wondered how she got her legs like that. His never came out that nice. He'd have to ask her what her secret was later.

"Ed, what's taking so long under there?" Kathy asked.

Ed looked up from the legs and saw Nadia looking down at him, smiling.

Ed gulped and spotted his spoon off to the side next to the foot of the table. He grabbed it quickly and started back up. On his way back to his seat, though, he bumped his head on the edge of the table.

He sat down, holding his head.

Kathy looked over at him and placed a hand on his cheek.

"Are you alright?" Kathy and Nadia asked at the same time.

Howard gave Nadia a look.

"Yeah. I'm fine, I'm fine," Ed replied.

"Oh, you silly goose," Kathy said, sympathetically.

Nadia frowned.


	16. Chapter 16

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16

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Howard and Nadia led Ed and Kathy to the front of the house. Howard opened the door for them. Kathy and Ed stepped out of the house and stood by the doorway.

Howard clapped a hand over Ed's shoulder. "Thanks for coming. It was a real pleasure." He said and removed his hand.

"Oh, no Mr. Brinkley, the pleasure was all mine," Ed said, grabbing Howard's hand and shaking it rapidly. "Thank you so much for inviting me."

Kathy rolled her eyes. "Get a room."

All of them laughed except Nadia.

"Anyways, I'm not going to keep you any longer, Mr. Brinkley. Oh, and I promise I'll work very hard on your script," Ed said.

Howard nodded. "I'm sure I can count on you."

Nadia suddenly reached out and took Ed's hand in hers. "And don't be a stranger, Ed. Come by again sometime soon."

Ed began to blush. He pulled his hand away gently. "I... I will."

Kathy looked at Ed strangely, then smiled at Howard and Nadia. "Goodbye Mr. Brinkley, Goodbye Mrs. Brinkley."

She pulled Ed by the arm down the driveway and onto the sidewalk. They proceeded on their way home.


	17. Chapter 17

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17

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Ed and Kathy walked through the doorway into the house. Ed took off his coat and draped it over the side of the couch. "That sure was something, wasn't it?" He asked excitedly.

Kathy growled under her breath, picked up Ed's coat, and put it in its right spot. "Oh, it really was. You were practically foaming at the mouth; you're so in love. I can't believe you."

Ed had been taking off his suit jacket, and when Kathy had said that he stopped dead. "W-What?"

"I said you made a complete fool of yourself, acting all googly-eyed. I was right there, you know. I saw it all."

Ed raised an eyebrow at her.

"He's a man, for god's sake!"

Ed let out a long relieved breath, realizing Kathy had been talking about Howard rather than Nadia. "Oh, I'm real sorry, honey. But you understand how it is, don't you? He's one of my idols."

Kathy sighed sadly. "I know."

Ed walked over to the bedroom and changed into his 'writing oufit'. He came back out wearing the pink sweater, skirt, and other parts of the oufit.

Kathy looked at him thoughtfully. "Now, if only Howard could've seen you like this!" She let out a roar of laughter.

"Ha ha ha," Ed said sarcastically. He pulled out the chair in front of the side table and sat in front of the typewriter.

"What are you doing now? Oh, don't tell me you're going to work on that stupid script right now."

"As a matter of fact, I am. I've got to make up for lost time." Ed cracked his knuckles and looked at the typewriter. "Kathy, would you mind handing me the notebook?"

Kathy looked at him, annoyed. Nevertheless, she opened the closet and put her hand into the inner pocket of Ed's coat.

Ed looked back at her, impatiently.

Kathy let out a gasp and her eyes went wide.

Ed furrowed his brow. "What? What is it!"

Kathy's jaw dropped. "Ed, it's not in here!"

"What!" Ed asked, springing to his heeled feet. He sprinted over to the closet and stuck his hand into the coat pocket.

He pulled out the notebook and gave Kathy an angry look.

Kathy laughed. "Gotcha."

"You know, that was a terrible trick to play, Kathy," Ed said, scolding her with the notebook. "I should punish you."

"Oh yeah? And how would you do that?" Kathy asked, placing her hands on her hips and trying to look menacing to Ed.

Ed placed an arm around her waist. "Oh, I don't know... maybe a little something like this?" He asked, and kissed Kathy.

He certainly felt more comfortable than with Nadia.

Kathy looked up at Ed. "Well then, I admit to being guilty. You'll have to give me a punishment."

Ed smiled at her and squeezed her close. "Okay, but not right now. Maybe later," He said, walked away to the typewriter.

Kathy crossed her arms over her chest, pouted, then walked out of the room. "I'm taking a bath," she said flatly from the bathroom.

Ed opened the notebook and took some minutes to study it. Then he placed it next to the typewriter and his hands over the keys.

Slowly, he began to write. Gradually, the ideas were coming more quickly to him and eventually he was on a roll.

Some hours passed and Kathy walked out into the living room, yawning. She walked up behind Ed and placed a hand over his shoulder. "Ed, come to bed, sweetie."

Ed continued to write never acknowledging her presence.

Kathy scoffed. "Fine Ed. Stay up the whole night for this guy. See if I care!" She said, angrily walked to the bedroom, and slammed the door.

Ed continued to write as though nothing had happened.


	18. Chapter 18

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18

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Ed continued to write all though the night locked in his writer's trance, thus receiving not a wink of sleep.

Kathy went about, doing her usual daily household chores, acting as though everything was normal. Around dinnertime, Ed's roll had diminished and he was finding it a tad difficult to write any further based on the fact that he was drained from a lack of sleep and nutrition.

Ed stroked some keys slowly, when all of a sudden his stomach began to growl. He stood upright, went to the bedroom to change his clothing, then marched into the kitchen.

Kathy was situated over by the stove, cooking spaghetti noodles and sauce. She stirred the sauce, then turned away from the stovetop to see Ed sitting at the kitchen table.

"Ed! I didn't expect you to come. Well, anyways, I'm glad you're here. You look terrible."

Ed smiled at her sarcastically.

"I guess I just couldn't keep away from you, kitten," Ed said, even though the real reason was simply because he had just fallen into writer's block.

Kathy turned back to the stove. "Aww, muffin," She retorted. She took the pot of noodles from the stove and distributed the contents between two plates, then did the same with the pot of sauce.

She picked up both plates, placed them on each end of the table then sat down.

Kathy picked up her fork and looked at Ed. "You really don't look all that well, you know." With her free hand she gestured to her undereye area. "You've got bags under your eyes."

Ed reached up to his own undereye area and touched his tired face. He shrugged and picked up a spoon.

"Ed... you don't eat spaghetti with a spoon."

Ed raised his arms, stretched out, and began to yawn. "Yes I do..." His head slumped down into the plate of spaghetti that lay before him and he fell asleep right in his dinner.

Kathy gaped at him, then shrugged and began to eat her own meal


	19. Chapter 19

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19

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Ed's arm slowly began inching downwards. Finally his hand fell open, letting the spoon he had been holding fall to the floor. The spoon made a fairly loud noise on impact with the floor.

Ed's head shot straight up from the noise and he looked around to find himself alone in the kitchen, spaghetti sauce smeared all over his face and spaghetti noodles stuck on as well, dangling. He looked to the clock on the wall to see that it was eleven o'clock. He sighed and realized that he had only been asleep for a few hours, so he still had the rest of the night to catch up on his work for Mr. Brinkl--

His eyes passed upon the window to see that it was light outside. Ed swallowed, having yet another revelation, yet this one was not incorrect as the last one had been; it was not eleven o'clock at night, but eleven o'clock the next morning.

Ed rapidly brushed at his face, trying to get the mess off of him. He got to his feet in a hurry and made his way over to the typewriter. He had wasted so much time now and he was behind schedule.

The previous working time Ed had only completed a '_sad_' total of thirty pages. He was supposed to be done at least eighty pages by the end of the day. That meant he'd have to work extra hard to make up for his mistake of _sleeping_.

As Ed was lowering himself into the chair in front of the typewriter, the phone rang. Ed looked in its direction, annoyed. He waited a couple of rings, waiting to see if Kathy was going to answer, but after she did not, he assumed that she was out shopping, so he got up from the chair and stalked over to the phone table.

He lifted the receiver and placed it to his ear. "Hello?" He asked, impatiently.

"Edward," Howard Brinkley replied from the other end.

Ed gasped and straightened out. "Oh, hello Mr. Brinkley! How are you?"

"Well, that depends. How is the script coming along?"

"Oh, it's coming along very nicely. I started working on it yesterday and I've got about thirty pages done so far. I know it's not much, but I'll have eighty done by the end of the day, I swea--"

"You wrote thirty pages in one day?" Mr. Brinkley asked, impressed.

"I know, I know. It's not enough, but I said that I'll have eighty done by the end of the da--"

"Are you kidding me, Edward?"

Ed raised an eyebrow. "Um... no. Why?"

"Edward, I've had writers give me thirty pages a_ week_. Thirty a day is considered very good in the business! But I'm sure you know that."

"Uhh... yeah. Okay."

Howard laughed. "Well, then to answer your question, I'm doing very well now that I know how much you've done."

Ed smiled. "Glad I could be of assistance."

Howard laughed again. "Anyways, I just called to ask. Keep up the good work! Oh, and you should come over again sometime, my wife simply adores you! She's been nagging me to invite you again."

Ed could feel his face turning red.

"When can you make it?"

"Umm... next Thursday?"

"Okay. That's fine. See ya Thursday, Edward. Oh, and tell Kathy I said hi."

The line clicked and Howard was gone. Ed gulped and pulled the receiver away from his ear. As he was about to replace it, he saw it was smeared with spaghetti sauce from his face.

Ed sighed, placed the receiver down on the table on its side and went into the kitchen to get a dishtowel to clean up his sauce. He returned to the receiver and cleaned it off, then went back to the kitchen to put the dishtowel away.

He placed the dirty dishtowel down carelessly on the counter and turned to exit. As he took a step forward, he struck the spoon he had dropped, slipped, and toppled to the floor on his back.

Ed let out a cry and winced in pain, rubbing his throbbing back. He tried to rise, but the pain was so great he could not even move. His eyes went wide, realizing that he had thrown out his back and Kathy was not home. Worse than that, he wouldn't be able to get to the typewriter to write!


	20. Chapter 20

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20

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Kathy stepped through the doorway of the house and closed the door behind her. She walked, carrying a totebag, and began removing her coat and shoes. She saw that Ed was not at the typewriter and smiled, then saw that the light was on in the kitchen so he was probably there. She started off towards it. "Oh, Ed. You'll never believe what I found when I was a--"

She immediately stopped at the sight of Ed sprawled across the floor. A gasp escaped her lips; she hurried over, kneeled down beside him and touched him on the shoulder. "Ed! What happened? Are you all right?"

Ed had fallen asleep while he was waiting for Kathy to return, and when she touched him it scared him, he flinched and let out a small shriek. His being scared had scared Kathy as well, and she flinched and shrieked at the same time.

"Ed, why are you on the floor? You're making me nervous, please get up."

Ed tried to move again, but could not. "I can't."

Kathy shook her head, not understanding. "Why not? Tell me what happened, maybe I can help."

Ed looked up at her. "Well... I slipped on my spoon here and fell... I think I threw out my back."

Kathy looked at his back. "Oh my... what can I do?"

"Maybe you can get a doctor or something?"

Kathy nodded slowly. "Yeah. A doctor." She stood up and turned to head for the phone, then turned back around and bent down again. "Umm..." She looked down at the floor, ashamed at what she was about to ask. "Do we have enough money for a doctor?" She asked softly.

Ed looked away from her and was silent for a moment before speaking, then finally replied. "I don't know."

"Well, I can't just leave you here. We have to do something."

"I don't know," Ed repeated quietly.

Kathy placed a finger to her chin. "Hey, you know, I've heard of people doing this thing called 'yoga' to cure bodily aches."

Ed looked up at her. "Yoga?"

"Yeah. It's like all these moves that you do and they make you feel better."

"Yoga?"

"And I think it would cost much less than a doctor's bill."

"Yoga."

"Yes, we've established that it's called yoga, Ed. Do you think you'd be up to it?"

"I guess so."

"Great! Um... where do you sign up for yoga?"

"No idea. You know what would really be greater, though?"

"What?"

"If I could be helped up off the floor which I've been lying on for about four hours."

"Oh! Whoops!" Kathy took his arms and attempted to lift him, but she was usually never successful at doing so, and this time it was no different. "Okay. I'm going to try again. Harder this time." She tried, but still had no luck. "I know! I'll put a chair in front of you, then push you up so you can grab onto it for support." She moved one of the chairs of the table to where Ed was. Then she took him by the arms again and tried with all her might to hoist him up.

She was finally able to get him partially up and he was kneeled on the floor, resting against the chair. "Alright, now I'll try to get you sitting in the chair so then you'll be off the floor at least." She manoeuvred him around so that his back was against the chair instead of his front, then struggled to get him sitting on the chair.

After she was done, she let out a long breath and brushed her hands together in completion. "Well, what now?" She asked.

Ed gave her a mysterious look. "I know something you can do that would really make me feel good."

"Oh, okay. What is it?"

"Can you um... get me my typewriter and notebook?"

Kathy frowned, then let out another long breath. "Well, I guess if that's really what you want." She disappeared into the living room and came back, hauling the typewriter and notebook into the kitchen. She dropped them onto the table in front of Ed.

Ed's eyes lit up when he saw the typewriter. "Oh Kathy, you've made me so happy."

"It's the least I could do." She kissed his forehead. "I'm going to go see now what I can do about the yoga."

Ed's listening had stopped after his last sentence and he did not hear Kathy or anything else in his surroundings because once again he had fallen into one of his magical Brinkley trances.

His writer's block was gone and he started up his writing slowly just as before, then his pace quickened further down the line until he was spewing pages out. Mr. Brinkley would certainly be happy with this.


	21. Chapter 21

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21

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Kathy returned to the kitchen later on, holding a piece of paper. She looked at the table and saw a pile of about thirty or so typed pages stacked up next to the typewriter. "Ed, did you do all this now?" She asked, surprised.

The only reply she received was that of the typewriter's keys clicking under Ed's fingers.

She walked up to Ed, stood behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ed. Did you write all of that while I was gone?"

Ed cocked his head to the side, as if hearing something in the distance then replied, "Yeah, I know it's not enough."

Kathy turned his head in her direction. "You're insane," She said and kissed him.

"Anyways." She held out the paper to Ed and pointed at it with the other hand. "I called around and got some info on yoga. I found this nice guy and his prices aren't that bad either."

Ed took the paper from her and looked down at the writing. "Mr. Potter?" He read aloud.

"Yes. That's his name. I spoke to him on the telephone and he sounds like a real peach. He's even willing to come over to do private sessions."

Ed nodded slowly. "Yeah... okay. That's good."

"Yep. Now, I've made an appointment with him for tomorrow. He'll be over around noon for a session about two hours long."

Ed nodded slowly again, then stopped and looked up at Kathy. "Umm... How many of these 'sessions' will I need from this fellow?"

Kathy shrugged. "I don't know. I guess you'll just have to ask him when he stops by tomorrow. I think it'll probably be no less than three, though."

"No less than three? Aww, I was hoping for maybe two only."

"Ed, you've got a thrown out back, not a paper cut. These things take time. You can't rush them. Who knows, it might even be more than three sessions. I was only guessing."

"More than three sessions! Kathy! I've got things to do! Scripts to write! Howard Brinkleys to see!"

Kathy placed her hands on her hips. "Howard Brinkleys can wait."

Ed raised a pointed finger. "But-But-But--" He put his finger down and sighed.

Kathy smiled and left the kitchen.


	22. Chapter 22

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22

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The following day around noon Mr. Potter, the yoga teacher arrived at the Wood residence. He stood in front of the door and knocked.

Kathy got up from the couch and went to the door. She looked through the peephole and saw a man holding a set of rolled up mats that she assumed could only be Mr. Potter. She opened the door quickly. "Mr. Potter! Come in, come in!" She greeted happily.

Mr. Potter stepped in, smiling, and Kathy closed the door behind him.

"So you are... Mrs. Wood, I think?"

"Yes. Call me Kathy."

"Okay, Kathy. Where is my patient?"

"Well, your 'patient' is just through that doorway," She replied, pointing in the direction of the kitchen.

Mr. Potter nodded, put down his roll of mats he was holding, and made his way to the kitchen.

Spotting the back of Ed, he walked right up and placed a hand on Ed's shoulder.

Ed let out a shriek and jumped, causing his back to hurt.

Mr. Potter gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you, there." He walked so that he was facing Ed. At the sight of Ed, he recoiled a bit.

The bags under Ed's eyes were worse than ever and the expression, which he was carrying from being so excited about his writing, was somewhat disturbing.

Mr. Potter swallowed. "Um, I'm Mr. Potter..." He said, extending a hand towards Ed. Ed, partially in a trance did not shake so Mr. Potter put his hand away. "Okay. Well, how did you hurt your back?"

"Spoon," Ed replied, simply.

"Spoon?" Mr. Potter asked, dumbfounded.

Ed nodded vigorously. "Spoon."

"What did the spoon do to you? Umm... Well I mean how was the spoon responsible for your incident?"

"It was lying on the floor here and I tripped over it, then I threw out my back."

"Ahhh ok," Mr. Potter replied now understanding the situation. "So, have you ever done yoga before?"

"Nope."

"Okay. Well then I think you'll enjoy it very much. Not only will it fix your back, but it will also fix many other things that you didn't even know were wrong with you. Yoga is essential for cleansing the body, mind and soul. Your aura will be fully functional after experiencing the qualities of yoga. Your life will take on a new prospective. Your--"

"So will it fix my back?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"Yes, but you must understand that there is so much more to yoga than just its abilities to cure your bodily aches and pains. It can be used to justify so many other things. I mean, the time you spend doing yoga can fix things that people spend twice as long doing. Yoga is simply just a really great way of life. It can teach you so many values of life that aren't ever taught in schools, not that they would be able to be taught in schools, it's just that they are facts that you must go through rather than be told verbally. To learn these things you must intake them physically, emotionally, spiritually and so on. And that's what life is really about. It's just so filled with--"

Mr. Potter stopped at the sound of a clicking that was coming from Ed. He saw that Ed was typing on his typewriter.

"Mr. Wood."

Ed looked up. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I often experience these types of situations. Speaking of experiences and situations, the yoga experience is so vibrant and full of surprising situations. Did you know that before I found yoga I was crippled? I was crippled not physically, but mentally. I had refused to see how much life really contained, but then I discovered the magic ways of yoga and my life got turned around. I mean, with yoga there's so much to experience in life. I can't even begin to describe how much I've changed since I began yoga... But I can try. Well, first off it began when I was..."

Ed had fallen asleep while Mr. Potter was delivering his life story and Mr. Potter never even noticed. Ed only managed to awake towards the end of the biography and caught the grand finale.

"... and then with the new discovery I had realized that there was just so much more than what I had been doing all my life. There was a whole other world out there besides my own and with yoga I am able to visit that world whenever I wish. And that world... It's just breathtaking. It's more fascinating than anything you could ever imagine. It's so radiant and brilliant. Mr. Wood let me show you that world. Please. I know you'll enjoy it just as much as I did when I first found it, maybe even more. So, what do you say? Do you want to uncover the enchantments of yoga? Or do you want to live in this one-way trap of destitute illusion?" He looked at Ed.

Ed looked back at Mr. Potter, sheepishly. "Umm... the second one?"

Mr. Potter smiled at him. "Great! I knew you were a challenger. I knew it the moment I saw you."

"Yay?"

Mr. Potter laughed. "Okay. Well, let's get you out of that chair and into the living room onto your yoga mat."

"Mat?"

"Yes. Yoga is performed on a mat. There are many complex moves that wouldn't be suitable to be done on an un-matted surface. You could seriously hurt yourself, otherwise."

"Complex moves?"

"Moves, positions, poses. Whatever you want to call them. Yoga is made up of a series of many different ones. Some are easy; others are difficult to master... Well anyways, let's get started." He took Ed by the arms and hoisted him up, then supported him all the way out of the kitchen and to the middle of the living room. He slowly eased him down onto the floor, then began to set up the yoga mats.

Ed eyed him unsurely as he was doing so. When he finished, Mr. Potter gestured to the mat nearest Ed and said, "Now position yourself on your mat. We'll begin with a few simple moves for starters, then when you feel you're up to it, we'll shift into some more advanced moves. Then maybe if you get good enough over time, you'll be able to do some of the really advanced stuff."

"Over time? Mr. Potter, how many of these sessions do you think I'll need? Two, three?"

Mr. Potter laughed. "You're funny." Ed frowned at him and he stopped. "Well, usually people like to continue the yoga way all throughout their life, rather than abandoning it because it really is a great tool to incorporate into a lifestyle. But judging from your tone, I can feel from your aura that you're not as into yoga as others, so I'd say that you'd be lucky if you got away with doing at least five sessions."

"Five sessions! Mr. Potter, I'm an extremely busy man. I've got a script to finish writing by the end of the month!"

"Well, I'm sorry but don't blame me. If you want to blame someone, go blame that pesky spoon," He let out a chuckle. "Besides, after all those pages that I saw you had done in the kitchen, I'd say you have nothing to worry about. You're a very avid worker, you know."

"Why does everyone keep saying that! I've only done sixty-two pages in two days. That's peanuts."

"Sixty-two? Mr. Wood, are you sure you don't need a head doctor rather than a yoga teacher?" He chuckled at his own comment again.

Ed stared at him and Mr. Potter calmed his laughter down. "Sorry. Let's get started, shall we?" He helped Ed onto his mat, then went over to his own mat. "Let's start off with oh... let's try the Butterfly Pose. It's commonly used amongst beginners. I think it would be a good start for you."

Ed looked at Mr. Potter blankly.

"Okay, well just lie flat on your back..."

"I am."

"Yes. Umm... okay now place your hands on your hips and leave your arms out so that they form a circular shape. Then--"

"Hah. My wife always gives me this Butterfly Pose."

"Haha... yeah. Well, keep your legs straight and spread them out in a 'V' shape. Now you are... a butterfly! Take in a few deep breaths and imagine flying over an enchanted forrest, smelling all the lovely spring smells and encountering just everything beautiful on your flight."

"I feel like more of an idiot than a butterfly."

"I see... yeah, let's just hold this pose for a few more seconds and then we'll move onto the next one: The épaule-lévé. That's French for 'raised shoulder'."

Ed looked at Mr. Potter with a raised eyebrow.

"Alright, now return your arms and legs to their original position and take in a breath. Then place the flat of your right hand down on the mat to your side. Turn your head to the right as well, then try to lift your left shoulder off of the mat and hold the pose there."

Ed did as instructed then, when it came time to raise his shoulder he had difficulty. "I can't raise my shoulder."

"Oh, yes you can. You're not trying."

"Yes, I'm trying! I can't do it because my back's all icky."

"Think of a flowing river. Moving and moving, passing over rocks and just sprinkling down its path. The water is just trickling and passing and--"

"I have to use the washroom," Ed said, embarrassedly.

Mr. Potter's eyes went wide and he gaped at Ed. "Umm... okay. Never expected that kind of response," He said, getting to his feet and walking over to Ed. He helped him up and to the washroom. When Ed finished Mr. Potter helped him back onto his mat and proceeded with more yoga.

"Now where was I? Oh yes. Right hand flat to your side, head to the right, left shoulder up."

"And where was _I_? Oh yes... I can't get my shoulder up!"

"Think of the power of a river, how it can move objects even though it's liquid. A river can carve through stone, given enough time! A river can--"

Ed thought of how nice it would be if Mr. Potter would just shut up and he raised his shoulder. "I did it! Look! I did it!"

"Bravo, Ed. Bravo. The river always gets me, too."

"Yeah... river..."

"Now hold this pose and imagine yourself being swept away in that powerful river. Just being carried away to paths unknown. The invigorating feeling of being free from all domains... now take in a deep breath, let it out, and revert back to the original pose so we can do the Pressure Point."

"Oh, no. That sounds complicated... What's that?"

"Well, we'll do it together. Alright put your head back and your chin in the air. Then place your right hand underneath your head, your left hand under the small of your back. Then push upwards with both hands, thrusting your torso upwards as well, thus focusing on the pressure point -- And if you think you can't do it, think of the power of a river again."

Ed tried, and felt pain crawl all around his back area. He winced and forced himself up even though it hurt tremendously.

"Alright! I got it! What now?" He asked.

"We take four long breaths and think about leaves being swept up into a wind. They're just blowing around, traveling the skies in the breeze. Not a care in the world, only wondering about when the next breeze will come to sweep them away again." He waited a moment. "Okay, now return to the original pose."

Ed returned to the original pose, and felt a bit better.

"So, how's it going? Do you feel good?" Mr. Potter asked.

"Yeah. I feel somewhat better. Not completely fixed up, but certainly better than before."

"That's good," Mr. Potter said, nodding. "Let's try the Sphere now. Do you think you can sit up?"

"Let me see..." Ed tried to rise, but could not rise more than a few inches off the ground. "How about you help me?"

Mr. Potter came over and helped Ed sit up. It hurt Ed a lot to perform the action, but he wanted to get better so he had no choice.

Mr. Potter returned to his own mat. "Now place your arms out straight like you're reaching for something, but keep your hands flat, palms down."

Ed did so, painfully.

"Good. Reach out as far as you can and keep the pose."

Ed did so, painfully.

"Take in a deep breath, hold it in for ten seconds... one... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine... ten... release. Now spread your legs and lower your arms so that they're directly on top of your legs and even. Lower your head slowly as far down as it can go and hold that pose. Let out a breath." Mr. Potter surveyed Ed's pose for a moment then decided it was good enough. "Now stand up."

Ed looked up at Mr. Potter from his pose. "What?"

"Stand up."

"Are you silly? I can't stand up, I've thrown out my back."

"Just try."

Ed got out of his pose. "Fine, but you'll see that I clearly can't stand u--" He got to his feet and stood. "Oh, my! I'm standing!"

"Yes. You're standing."

"But... just a while ago I was practically unable to move!"

"Ahh, well my friend, you've just experienced the magic of yoga."

"The magic of yoga...? Ya don't say..." Ed raised his arm and belted Mr. Potter a friendly slap on the back. The action caused a throbbing in his supposedly cured back. "Ow!" Ed yelled, rubbing at his own back. The pain was spreading quickly. "Hey, I thought this yoga fixed me up, why am I still in pain?"

Mr. Potter chuckled. "Oh, Ed. You really think one session will cure you? I told you it'd take at least five. Maybe more."

Ed frowned. "Aww. Okay."

"Well, anyways, that's enough for today. I'll see you tomorrow, I guess."

Ed continued to rub at his back. "Yeah. Tomorrow."

Mr. Potter rolled up his mats and put the roll under one arm. "I'll show myself out," He said and made his way over to the front door. He unlocked it, stepped outside and waved. "Goodbye Ed!" He called, and closed to door behind him.

"Goodbye..."


	23. Chapter 23

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23

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The next day after more poses, more progress and more Mr. Potter, the phone began to ring. Clutching his back, Ed made his way over to the telephone table. He picked up the receiver and answered, "Hello?"

"Hello, Mr. Wood," A female said from the other line. "I'm calling from West Side Insurance Agency because you're behind in your insurance fees and we have not received any money from you even after another of my colleagues has informed you of your tardiness. I'm sure you've already been told that your insurance plan will be terminated at the end of the month if your behavior keeps up. And, I'm also sure that you've been told of the fee caused by this termination. Mr. Wood, it is very important that you pay your fees. The termination fee that will result is not a very pleasant sum and I would hate for you to have to pay it. So please, you have to pay your insurance fees very soon."

Ed blinked several times, remembering all about the fees he had completely forgotten. "Oh gosh golly gee. I'd plum forgotten. Thank you very much, Madam, for informing me. I'll get on it right away!"

"I hope you do, Mr. Wood. I really hope you do. Goodbye." She hung up.

Ed hung up as well and quickly, clutching his back, made his way to the kitchen. He went over to the counter and picked up his bankbook and checkbook. Flipping through the bankbook, he gulped at seeing that he only had a sad sum of thirty-two dollars put away.

"Oh my... oh my," He said nervously, holding his face. He could clearly remember the insurance fees being one hundred dollars; sixty-eight less than what he needed to pay off the insurance company. "What am I going to do?" He asked himself. "What oh what am I going to do?"

He put his books down and looked at them. Slowly his gaze began to pull off to the side and he noticed a spoon sitting next to the edge of the sink. He picked it up and held it in front of him.

"Gosh-darn it on you, Mr. Spoon! Gosh darn it on you. It's because of you that I hurt my back. What do you have to say for yourself?"

The spoon obviously had nothing to say regarding its actions; it simply stood in his grip, silently.

"Just as I thought... too cowardly, to even take responsibility for its own actions. Well, Mr. Spoon, I want you to know something: I am very disappointed in your behavior. You've displeased me greatly and I'll never think of you the same way again."

The spoon stood, speechless.

"Fine. Be that way. Just know... I'm watching you." He slowly put the spoon back on the counter and turned around to leave.

All of a sudden he bolted back around again and shot a glance at the spoon. _Surprisingly_, the spoon was not doing anything more suspicious than just lying on the counter, minding its own business.

Ed raised a finger, pointed to his eyes, then to the spoon, as if to say 'I've got my eye on you'.

He turned back around and marched, clutching his back, out of the kitchen and back to the living room, obviously without any mental instability whatsoever...


	24. Chapter 24

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24

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"So, Ed. You've been making some really good progress over these last few sessions. I think this will be your last one," Mr. Potter said.

"Really? That's sweeter than a platinum Versacci handbag," Ed replied.

"Yes... okay now let's try something different. Now, Mr. Wood, I just want to remind you that yoga is very much fundamental to life. There are no guarantees that your back will really be fixed after this, which is why you should really consider applying yoga as a lifetime value. It's just so easy to adjust to and it makes you feel great everytime you do it. It's like opening up your eyes to something new everytime. It's like discovering something different in the world each time you successfully manage a pose. Yoga is just so good for a person's life. It will make you understand things better as well. It will open your mind up like it's never been opened before. I just can't see why anyone wouldn't want to abide by the yoga ways and just want to toss it aside. Yoga is very good for your aura too. It--"

Mr. Potter saw Ed staring at him impatiently and stopped. He cleared his throat. "Let's do the Scissor Pose... Lie on your side-- doesn't matter which one-- and put the arm that's touching the ground facing upwards instead of downwards with your palm down on the mat. Then push up on that hand and rise off of the mat. Now balance your weight on the leg that's touching the ground and lift the other leg up so that your legs make a 'V' shape. Then place your free arm on your hip and curl it outward, just like in the Butterfly Pose."

Ed did as instructed and obtained the Scissor Pose. "Look! I'm doing it!"

"Great. You are scissors!"

"I am scissors... Hey wouldn't it be cool to have hands as scissors? Yeah... you'd be calling me Eddie Handsscissors. No-- Wait! Edward Scissorhands. Oh, yeah. I like the sound of that."

Mr. Potter surveyed Ed, disturbed greatly at his strange and wild imagination.

"Yeah... um that's great... you do that... Now, if you will. Imagine cutting through a piece of smooth ribbon, just slicing it in half. Nothing can get in the way of you slicing that ribbon. And when you finally sever it, you feel a power rush through you that is so great it makes you feel invincible... Now hold the pose for three breaths... in... out... in... out... in... out... And release the pose and come back to the original pose."

Ed came back to the original pose.

Mr. Potter stood up. "Well, I think this will be it."

"What? Really? But I'm in yoga-mode and everything!"

"Well, we did about four poses today and you showed no trouble at all in obtaining them whatsoever. I say that your back is strong enough to function adequately. But... that's what you wanted all along. You wanted to get yoga over with, and now it is. So I bet you're real happy, aren't you?"

Ed got up from his mat and stood next to Mr. Potter. "Yeah. I'm pretty much better and I'm happy. It's just that I'd become acclimated to this yoga thing and I guess I'm just going to miss it."

Mr. Potter patted Ed on the shoulder. "Yeah. It's usually like that. I've told you that many people continue yoga on for the rest of their lives, though, because it's very healthy. Maybe you'd like to consider that?"

Ed shook his head. "Nah. Yoga's not for me. It's okay, but I have better things to do with my time, you know. Anyways..." He bent down, rolled up Mr. Potter's mats, and handed to roll to him. "...I'll show you out." He showed Mr. Potter to the doorway and opened the door.

Mr. Potter stepped outside. Ed threw a hand his way and shook Mr. Potter's vigorously. "Thank you, Mr. Potter. I really did enjoy your yoga. And if ever I need you, I'll make sure to give you a call."

"Sure thing, Mr. Wood. It was a pleasure to be your teacher. Well, anyways, I should be going now. Goodbye."

"Goodbye," Ed said, and closed the door behind Mr. Potter. He leaned his back against the door and sighed. "No more yoga for me..."


	25. Chapter 25

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25

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Ed had finished taking a shower and he was walking to the bedroom to get changed, when all of a sudden the phone rang. Ed walked over to the phone table and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Hello, Ed," replied a thick Latin female accent.

Ed gulped. "... Nadia?" He whispered.

"Ah, you remember me! How are you?"

Ed looked around the room for any sight of his wife, but saw none. "Me? Oh... I'm f-fine," He stammered.

"Good."

"Good?"

Nadia laughed. "So what are you wearing?"

Ed furrowed his brow. "A towel, but I don't see how that has anything to do with--"

"Oooh. Sexy."

Ed let out a long breath. "Umm... Why are you calling, Mrs. Brinkley...? Is there something that you want...?"

"Silly Ed, all I want is you."

"Oh."

"When are you coming over again?"

"... Thursday," Ed replied, now wishing that he hadn't agreed to come over then. He really liked Mr. Brinkley and his wife was okay, but he just didn't need the trouble that going over brought him.

"Great! I simply cannot wait! I got this new dress and I want you to see it. I know you'll like it. Try to imagine it: Royal blue satin. Diamonds along the edges. All open in the back. Plunging neckline. Really, realllly plunging... can you imagine it?"

Ed stood, phone in hand, head cocked to the side, staring off, a picture of the dress Nadia had described etched in his mind... himself wearing it...

"Ed? Are you still there?" Nadia asked after he had not said anything for a minute.

Ed snapped out of his trance. "Yeah, yeah. Sounds good."

"And I'll wear it especially for you."

Ed nodded. "Good... good..." He wondered if she might let him have a try as well. "Say, would you mind if--"

Kathy suddenly walked into the living room carrying a basket of laundry. Ed froze, knowing that if she caught him talking on the phone with Nadia, there would be some serious trouble. Who knows what kind of mess he'd be in if--

Kathy walked up beside Ed and smiled. Ed offered her a wavering smile back. "Who are you talking on the phone with?" She whispered.

Ed had to think fast! Oh no... he was not good at making up lies... what would he say? What could possibly be a plausible answer to fulfill this question? How would he be able to--

He said the first thing that popped out of his mouth, oh and it popped alright. It practically spewed all over the place. "Uhh... N-Nadia."

He smacked a hand over his face and winced, realizing what an idiot he'd just been. He was no liar, and he knew it. Now Kathy would know of their secret love romp. She'd know that he had cheated on her, know of the burning affair, which consumed him. And she'd never forgive him. She'd probably leave him. Walk right out of the house, suitcase and all. Right out of his life...

"Oh. Tell her I said hi, dear," Kathy replied, kissed him on the forehead, and headed off to do the laundry.

Ed stood, gaping after Kathy. He was so confused and his heart was racing a mile a minute.

"Ed?" A voice asked.

Ed furrowed his brow and wondered where the voice was coming from. Suddenly he looked down and saw the phone receiver in his hand. He'd plum forgotten that he was still holding it.

He raised the receiver to his ear and spoke, "Sorry about that. That was my wife. Oh yeah, she says hi... anyways, I really should be going now. I don't think talking to you is safe. My wife almost caught us, you know."

Nadia laughed, then let out a long saddened sigh. "If you really must. Just don't forget Thursday. And my dress."

"Oh, I won't. I can promise you that. I'll be there."

_And hopefully I'll be wearing your dress too_, he thought.

"Alright. Goodbye, Ed. See you Thursday you devil, you."

"Goodbye," Ed said and they both hung up.

Ed placed his head in his hands and shook it. "What am I gonna do?"


	26. Chapter 26

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26

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Thursday came around quicker than ever and soon Ed found himself standing outside of Kathy's door, once again, waiting impatiently for her to hurry up and get ready.

Kathy finally emerged looking stunning to Ed, as usual. He took her arm in his and they made their way out of the house and down the street. All the while, Ed couldn't help imagining himself over and over again in the dress Nadia had described over the phone during their conversation.

When the Brinkley residence was reached, Ed still felt a tingling throughout his body as he lay his eyes upon the house.

After the friendly greetings and familiarities, Ed and Kathy were ushered into the living room just like the previous visit.

Ed's hand had healed quite a while ago, so he was sure there would be no need to go to the washroom and end up alone with Nadia instead once again. He just knew it couldn't happen again. And if the situation became apparent once more, he wouldn't _let_ it happen again.

Nadia entered the room, clad in the dress she had described. It was just as he imagined it, maybe even nicer. He stared at her dress intently for a few minutes, then noticed Kathy giving him a look, so, ashamed, he dropped his eyes to the floor. He wished he could've pulled Kathy aside to tell her it wasn't Nadia he was so interested in, it was her dress. Her gorgeous, amazing, beautiful dress that he would kill-- well, maybe not kill but perhaps slightly injure-- someone to wear.

The chummy conversations between the two couples went sailing by-- Nadia giving Ed googly-eyes all throughout, Ed every now and then returning the googly-eyes to her dress-- Then came the moment where Nadia had to leave to attend to the dinner in the kitchen. Ed would not let her get the best of him that was for sure. If he had to put up a fight, so be it.

She casually walked down the hall and disappeared out of sight. Ed let out a slightly relieved breath, but knew that it wasn't going to be just that easy to slip away from her.

He sat very stiffly on the sofa next to Kathy for some minutes, the conversation drifting past him as he concentrated on his thought process that went a little something like this:

_No. I will not. I WILL NOT. I love my wife and there is no way Nadia will do it. No way. Even if she's wearing that extravagant dress... no. I cannot. I will not. I refuse. No way José. Nuh-uh. Nope. No siree bob. It will never happen again. Never ever, never._

And the thought process basically went on and on like that until Ed looked up to see Nadia standing in the opening of the hall.

"If it wouldn't be too much of a bother, I need a bit of help in the kitchen," Nadia said, looking in Ed's direction.

_No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. NO! She can't! I will not let her. I'm putting my foot down. I'm putting my..._

"Oh, I can help you, Nadia," Kathy said. Ed looked at her and smiled. Aww, how he loved Kathy. She had just saved the day.

"Thank you, Kathy. But I was thinking that Ed could be the one to help instead." Her smile shone brighter at Ed.

Ed shut his eyes and placed a hand to his forehead for a moment, then looked up at Nadia, pleading with his eyes. "Oh.. I um.. I..."

"Well, come on Ed. Get it moving. You're a gentleman, right?" Kathy asked.

Ed looked at Kathy now, pleading with his eyes at her. "Yes... but..."

Everyone in the room had their eyes on him. Their prying eyes. Nadia had done it once again. She'd gotten her way and Ed knew exactly what was in store for him once he entered that kitchen. He gulped and slowly raised from the couch. Feeling sick, he walked over to Nadia. "I would be more than happy to help you, Nadia," He said in a somewhat flat tone.

Nadia's smile only grew bigger. "Thank you, Ed," She said, then led him down the hall and to the kitchen.


	27. Chapter 27

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27

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As they entered the kitchen, Ed stood by the doorway while Nadia walked past him to the counter and stood with her back to him, as she was busy preparing something.

"What's for dinner tonight?" Ed asked in the somewhat flat tone, staring down at his shoes.

Nadia turned her head and smiled at him. "Spaghetti."

Ed nodded slowly. "I hope it doesn't get all ruined when you have you way with me like last time's dinner," Ed said coldly.

Nadia raised an eyebrow at him. "Who said that's why I wanted you here? Did you ever stop and think that maybe I actually wanted you to help me prepare dinner?"

Ed stopped looking at his shoes, raised his head and looked at her. "Well... I just thought because the way you've been acting, what with last week and then the phone call and then..."

"You've explained to me that you're not interested, so I have no choice but to cease and desist. I'm not _that _mean you know."

"You aren't?" Ed cleared his throat. "Umm I mean yeah. You aren't."

"Okay. Now that we've got everything all cleared up, how about you hand me that bowl of chopped beef for the meatsauce?"

"Huh?" Ed looked confused.

"You're here to help, remember?"

"Oh! Oh. Yeah." He moved away from the doorway finally and grabbed the bowl that sat on the table. As he was making his way over to Nadia at the counter area, he stepped on an unsightly spoon that carelessly happened to be lying right in the middle of the floor for no apparent reason whatsoever.

Ed tripped and fell flat, the bowl coming loose from his grip and falling over onto the floor right in front of his nose. Ed, sore but not paralyzed as before, scrambled to sit up and looked at the mess he had made. He turned to Nadia and gave her a look of embarrassment. "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Ed began.

Nadia walked over to Ed and stood behind his kneeling figure, placed a hand on his shoulder. She surveyed the mess. "You only spilled a little bit. It's okay. The bowl's not even broken." She grabbed a roll of paper towel from the table and kneeled down next to him on the floor.

Ed took the paper towel roll from her. "I made the mess, I'll clean it up. Okay?"

Nadia shrugged and Ed ripped off some paper towel and began cleaning up his mess. As he was hunched over, Nadia couldn't help but stay kneeled next to him, watching him move. He was so... Uhhhh! She wanted to reach out and...

She hardly even noticed it, but her hand slowly reached out and found it's way to Ed's back. She gently began to rub his back in a soft, circular pattern. A dazed smile formed on her face.

As Ed was hunched over, wiping up the spilled meat as quickly as he could, he suddenly could swear he felt something very delicate and very... _nice_... touching him. He slowly turned his head and looked behind him to find Nadia caressing him from behind.

Nadia didn't really realize what she was doing. She was just so... caught up in her thoughts. Howard... he was like Jell-O. But Ed... Now this was a real man. A _firm_ man.

Ed looked at Nadia. She looked at him; they looked at eachother.

He gulped and the paper towel and roll fell from his hands but he didn't notice either one. He didn't know _what_ was happening. He didn't know why Nadia was looking at him with that strange gleam he could observe glowing in her eye.

Nadia slowly began to lean in closer and closer to Ed on the floor. Soon, they were only inches apart.

Ed's lower lip began to quiver. "M-M-Mrs. Brinkley?" He asked nervously.

Nadia ignored him and tugged hard on his tie.

"Mrs. Brinkley?" Ed whispered almost inaudibly, a painstruck expression over his face.

Nadia pulled him forward and they fell into a long, passionate kiss. But when the oven timer began to ring, Nadia broke away, got to her feet, and went to attend dinner as though nothing had happened.

Ed was left alone, kneeling on the floor, the almost-cleaned mess behind him. His expression was a mix of both uncertainty and confusion with a hint of daze for extra flavor. Boy, this was going to be a good dinner.


	28. Chapter 28

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28

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The dinner had gone pretty much just as bad as the first one, maybe even worse. Nadia could try to convince Ed that she didn't want him all she wanted. The only problem was that she couldn't even convince herself of it, let alone Ed.

And worst of all, she hadn't even let Ed try on her dazzling dress. Actually, with all the commotion caused, he had forgotten to ask her in the first place. Although he knew that if he would've held the opportunity he probably would've been too embarrassed to go forward with asking.

So as Ed tapped away on his typewriter, he still imagined himself wearing the plunging blue dream that was Nadia's dress.

The hours fluttered passed him like they do while sitting in your car during a severe case of rush-hour traffic and before he knew it, it was already around midnight.

Ed moved his hands away from the surface of the typewriters keys and made a face at seeing that his fingers were starting to take on an ugly curled form from having them in that position over the typewriter for so long. He frowned and stretched his fingers out, hoping that they were not deformed like that permanently.

He suddenly felt a yawn coming over him and decided that he was ahead enough with his writing to go to sleep. He stood up, yawning again, and made his way to the bedroom.

He entered quietly, as to not wake Kathy, but she heard him anyway, awoke and turned to face him. "Ed?" She said with sleep in her tone.

"Hi, princess."

Kathy glanced at the clock, noting that it was around midnight. "Ed, you worked for about fourteen hours straight! You must be sacked!"

Ed walked around to the other side of the bed, taking less interest in being quiet because Kathy was awake now. "More like sixteen..." He said to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing." He climbed into bed.

"So is this thing almost done yet?"

"Yeah. You know... I think I might be able to finish it tomorrow!"

"Oh, Ed! That's wonderful!"

"It sure is." He leaned in and kissed Kathy on the forehead then returned his head to the pillow.

Kathy smiled and leaned over him this time. She put her face next to his so that they were cheek to cheek and she softly stroked his uncovered cheek with her hand. "I'll be happy when this is all over with," She said softly.

Ed simply lay there and did not reply.

Kathy raised up on her hands and hovered over Ed. "Ed?"

But he clearly had fallen asleep.

Kathy was disappointed, but happy that Ed was finally getting some rest for once. She returned to her own pillow and closed her eyes.

Just as she was about to fall down into a wave of sleep, she was disturbed by a horrible noise coming from nearby. It was a terrible, monstrous sound that had life to it. And it was so close! What was it!

She turned her head, groggily, and looked at Ed. Perhaps he had been awaken by the noise as well...

But Ed's eyes were still closed and he looked peaceful as ever.

She looked at him closer. No wonder he was so peaceful! The noise was Ed snoring!

Kathy's eyes went wide with annoyance. She had a lot of cleaning to do the next day and needed to be well rested. She certainly would not be able to get that well rest if this continued all throughout the night.

She outstretched a hand, wanting to wake him to ask him if maybe he could tone it down a bit. He had never snored before and she didn't see why he had to start now. But as she was about to tap Ed on the shoulder, she brought her hand back and sighed. He simply looked too peaceful to be bothered. And he had been working so hard the past few weeks...

Kathy decided that she'd just have to deal with it. She shut her eyes tightly and focused on falling asleep with the sound of a construction site practically in her ear. But it was not working.

After some minutes she let out a long frustrated sigh, grabbed her pillow and jammed it over her head like a madwoman.


	29. Chapter 29

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29

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At some point during the night, Kathy had finally drifted to sleep. When she woke up the next morning, she glanced at the clock and saw that she had overslept and was behind schedule.

She frowned, turned on her side and put her arms around Ed. Only Ed felt a bit... airy this morning. In fact, he felt like--

Like Ed wasn't in the bed at all. Kathy's frown deepened and she pulled the covers down from the bed to reveal, just as she thought, an empty space where her husband should've been lying. But it clearly was no mystery at all where Ed would be located. All she had to do was look at the far end of the living room where the side table sat and she would see him all ablaze on his typewriter.

He had said the previous night that today would be the final day of all the commotion that had occurred in the recent weeks. Well... if it was really over today like he had said... Then Kathy guessed that it was okay for him to torture himself this one last time.

Kathy crawled out of bed, changed her clothes, and walked out of the bedroom and into the living room. She looked at the far end, to the side table and saw...

That Ed was not there at all. There was that big dumb typewriter that sat in the middle of the table, the pile of blank sheets of paper to the side, the other pile that was typed sheets of script... but no Ed.

This came as a shock. Lately, every single morning she had awaken, Ed had always been at the typewriter. And now he wasn't.

Perhaps he'd finished the script? Maybe, just maybe, he was in the kitchen, sitting at the table patiently awaiting his breakfast. Or better yet, maybe he was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for the both of them _himself_!

Kathy decided that these wacky conclusions she'd been coming to were simply too much wishful thinking. She didn't know where Ed was, but she planned to find out.

Kathy walked into the kitchen with her eyes closed, then after a minute she opened them to reveal... an empty kitchen. She sighed, knowing that she had gotten her hopes up for nothing, and approached the table.

But the kitchen really wasn't empty. No. As she approached the table she saw that there was a piece of stationary paper lying on it.

Kathy picked it up and struggled to read the incomprehensible printing of Ed.

Honey I have to

the store for things.

My thing with the yeah.

It needs the stuff with

you know. Be back later

okay?

Ed

XOXO

Kathy stared thoughtfully at the odd letter for a moment longer before placing it on the counter and leaving the kitchen. She assumed that Ed meant that he went to the store to get something for his typewriter. A new ribbon, some paper, or something along those lines. Although, reading the note had provoked the thought in her head:

_If he can barely write a letter properly, then how can he manage a whole script?_

But after having read a couple of Ed's scripts over the years, she knew that his script writing and letter writing abilities were as opposite as black and white.

Kathy grabbed her featherduster from a shelf and walked over to the bookcase that stood next to the typewriter side table. As she raised the duster to the top shelf to begin cleaning, the phone rang.

Kathy lowered the duster and stared distastefully at the phone. It rang again.

"Alright, alright. Hold your horses," Kathy said aloud, put her feather duster down on the sofa, and walked to the telephone table.

She answered, "Hello?"

"Hello, Ma'am. May I speak with Mr. Ed Wood? It's very important." A male asked.

"I'm sorry. He's not in right now. But maybe I can help you. I'm his wife."

"Sure. Well, Mrs. Wood, you probably already know of the tardiness of your insurance fees. We've contacted your husband quite a few times about the matter, but we've received none of the payment. Unfortunately, there's a hefty sum to be paid for withholding payments for this long of a period, and I'm afraid it's come to the time where you're going to be charged. The fees are one hundred dollars. The late fees... two hundred."

Kathy listened to all this intently, feelings of embarrassment, anger, confusion, disappointment, and annoyance all fluttering through her at once. They were so strong, yet when she opened her mouth to reply, not even the slightest discomfort could be detected. "I see. Well... thank you Mr..."

"Laudy."

"... Mr. Laudy for calling. I'm going make sure you get that money no matter what."

"You're welcome. Goodbye."

They both hung up. For a few minutes all Kathy did was stand there, expressionless. But very slowly, her face began to fill with an angry disposition and she ran to the bookshelf. She grabbed a book and hurled it across the living room with a growl.

Her throw had held so much force that the book hit the wall on the other side of the room. On impact, it took on a crumpled look, fell to the floor in a heap, and lay sprawled in displacement. A small scuff mark was left on the wall above it.

Kathy looked at the book and gasped, realizing what she had done. She was not a violent woman in the least and had never been one. Ever.

Her knees began to feel weak and she managed to sit down on the couch before they gave out under her.


	30. Chapter 30

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30

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Ed entered the house, shutting the door behind him. He took off his sunglasses, put them in his breast pocket, and turned around to find Kathy standing in the middle of the living room, staring at him.

He approached his wife, not aware of her anger, and put his arms out to hug her. "Hello, Snowball. What have you been up to? Hey... I finished the--"

She pulled away from him. "Don't you 'Snowball' me!" She said angrily and placed her hands on her hips. "Why didn't you tell me about the late insurance fees?"

Ed furrowed his brow in confusion, then realized what she was talking about. "Oh... I um... well... you see..."

Kathy stared at him menacingly and he stopped fumbling and spoke up. "I meant to tell you. I also meant to pay. It just kept um... well... going over my head, I guess."

"Going over your head! What did you need to remember all day that was more important than this? Oh, I know: Mr. Brinkley and that stupid script! Well guess what Ed, Mr. Brinkley's not going to be paying three hundred dollars for your being absent-minded. WE are."

"Th-Th-Three hundred dollars?"

"That's right."

"Oh... oh dear. Where are we going to get three hundred dollars?"

"Yes, Ed. Where ARE we going to get three hundred dollars? Hmm?" She stared at Ed, knowing the answer perfectly.

Ed looked at Kathy nervously. "I'll get the newspaper."


	31. Chapter 31

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31

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Ed sat at the kitchen table, going over the want ads in the newspaper. He was looking for a small job he could take up until he made the money they needed.

He skimmed his finger over the lettering of ads and Kathy walked into the kitchen, came up behind him. She placed a hand on his shoulder and looked down at the paper he was looking at, thoughtfully.

"So how's the job search coming along?" She asked.

"It's bad. All these jobs look too... I don't know. I--" He stopped, seeing something in particular that caught his eye. "What about this?" He asked, pointing a finger on a spot of the newspaper.

Kathy leaned her head down to get a better look, then read aloud, "McGinty's Diner is looking for a part-time dishwasher."

Ed turned his head to her and looked up. "Yeah. Sounds simple enough. And I like McGinty's. Me and Mr. Brinkley ate there some weeks ago. They have these BBQ ribs and fries and..."

"A dishwasher job? Ed, you don't even do the dishes at home! Why would you want to do them now?"

Ed shrugged. "I don't know. But we have a bill to pay. Three hundred dollars to earn. And if I don't get a job we're going to be facing some serious trouble."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"As sure as the fact that I'm wearing female undergarments under my clothes right now."

"Alright. Give me the paper. I'm gonna call for you, set up an interview."

"Thanks, Kathy." He handed the newspaper to Kathy and watched as she disappeared from the kitchen and into the living room.

Ed hunched over the table and rested while Kathy was gone.

After some minutes, Kathy returned, holding the newspaper, as well as a piece of paper with some writing scrawled on it. She handed Ed the paper with writing and he looked at it.

"I called McGinty's and they said they'll take you and you don't even need an interview. You start tomorrow at noon and you can go home at six."

Ed nodded to himself. "Great."

"Yeah. Great. Now, if you would be so kind, I'd be much obliged if you went off somewhere else. I have to start dinner, Ed."

Ed held the paper firmly between both of his hands and got to his feet. "No problem, babydoll. What's for dinner?"

"Chicken à la King."

Ed started out the doorway. "Yum yum."

Kathy laughed and began dinner.


	32. Chapter 32

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32

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Ed walked down the sidewalk on the street, which led to McGinty's. He looked down at his watch and saw that it was 11am.

I'd better hurry up if I don't want to be late! He thought and quickened his pace.

Shortly, he arrived in front of the diner with tons of time to spare. He approached the building, opened the door, and entered.

He walked up to the front desk, cleared his throat and adjusted his tie. "Hello. I um... I'm Ed Wood. I'm here to work as a dishwasher."

The girl at the desk looked slightly familiar to Ed. The way she looked... the way she stared at him with that sort of lazy and lifeless look… the way she-- The way she chewed gum at him very rudely because she was the waitress he had unfortunately been blessed with on his lunch with Howard Brinkley.

"Yeah. Come behind here. I'll show you to the… thing in the... place," She replied lazily, chewing her gum.

Ed pushed the wooden barrier that blocked the behind-desk area from the restaurant area out of his way and followed the waitress to where she was leading him.

They stopped in a room filled with a bunch of heavy-duty double sinks with carts of dirty dishes here and there.

"Carlina!" The waitress yelled. Ed covered his ears and winced.

A minute later, a woman about Ed's age appeared at the doorway and walked up to them. The waitress disappeared and then it was just Ed and the new woman.

The woman put her hand out. "I'm Carlina Epstein. I'm the one in charge of things around here. I'm going to teach you all the stuff you need to know to wash dishes here at McGinty's."

Ed shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Carlina. Teach away."

Carlina smiled and walked past Ed and to one of the double sinks. She pulled a nearby cart next to her and looked at Ed. Ed walked over to her and stood beside.

Carlina pointed at the cart of dirty dishes. "Now, Ed. The busboys here are trained to load the dish-carts a very specific way to make it easier for the dishwashers." She pointed at a stack of dirty dishes and picked it up. "All dishes are stacked in columns of ten, like this."

Ed nodded. "I see."

"So first of all, you only do a stack at a time. Less broken plates, less broken backs. You take a stack and place it in your left sink like so." Carlina placed the stack she was holding in the left side of the double sink. "Then you see this little shelf above your sink?" She pointed at a shelf above the sink that held various bottles of cleansers and rags and other cleaning supplies.

Ed nodded. "Yes. I see it."

Carlina grabbed a bottle of blue liquid, a bottle of green liquid and two rags from the shelf, then placed them on the little side block that was on the sink. "You always must use a bottle of Cleanse-O, a bottle of Shine-O-Matic and two rags for your dishes. And you place them on this little corner on the right."

Ed nodded.

Carlina picked up the bottle of blue liquid that was Cleanse-O and a rag. She held them up to Ed so he could see. "You start with your Cleanse-O and a rag. Now don't worry, because you'll be wearing gloves while doing this... you apply Cleanse-O in your left sink where the dishes are and scrub the face sides and backsides with your rag. After that you move them all to the right side of your sink and let your left side drain." She moved the dishes into the right side of the sink and put her bottle of Cleanse-O and used rag on the block to the right.

She picked up the bottle of green liquid that was Clean-O-Matic and the remaining rag and held them up to Ed. "Then you take Clean-O-Matic and your other rag and you do the process again." She demonstrated how to wash the dishes again. "After, you take your water hose..." She picked up a hand-held hose-like apparatus from a clamp on the side of the sink and held it up to him. "And you clean off your left side of the sink with it. When that's all done, you move your dishes back to the left side, drain the right, hose down the dishes in the left side of the sink, then hose the right. Then you put the hose away." She put her hose away and pulled a large towel off of a nearby rack. "Finally you dry off your dishes one by one and..." She pulled an empty cart out from under the double sink and positioned it next to the dirty dish cart. "You replace them all in columns of ten on your cart."

Ed nodded.

"A cart can hold one hundred dishes. And when you've filled a cart, you push it over to the clean dish area." She pointed off to the side where there hung a sign on the wall that read 'Clean Dish Area'.

"So you've got it all down?"

"I've got it all down."

"Okay. Well, follow me. I'll get you your uniform."

Ed smiled. "Okay."

And they both left the dishwashing room.


	33. Chapter 33

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33

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Washing dishes proved to be a harder job than Ed expected, but he was getting through it just the same. But, if he would've known what was in store for him down the road, he would've never even accepted the job in the first place.

One day as he was busy scraping the remains of someone's lunch from a plate, Carlina snuck-- well not snuck but more like went very quietly-- into the dishwashing room. She placed herself right next to Ed, who was unaware of her presence. Then she, very slowly, turned her head and blew ever so slightly a gentle breeze of sweet air into his left ear. Startled, the dish in Ed's hands fell to the floor, breaking, and he was left staring open-mouthed at Carlina who was standing calmly at his side, smiling at him for some... strange reason.

"C-Carlina," Ed stammered. "W-What brings you here?" He looked at her for an answer but she only continued to smile in his direction. "I... I'm really sorry about the plate. I'll g-go clean it up," he said, then crouched down, attempting to scoop up all the pieces of the busted plate.

Suddenly, he felt Carlina's hand on his arm and he looked up, forgetting about the plate.

"Never mind that," Carlina said and pulled Ed to his feet.

They were standing face to face. Ed's upper lip was quivering. Carlina didn't care.

She placed her hand on his lower back and then her lips upon his. Ed murmured, disagreeing, then managed to pull away. "I don't think this is in my contract."

Carlina frowned, then replied, "We can add it in later. Now shhh..." She applied herself to him once more; her hand on his lower back escaping further and further below until it reached his posterior.

Feeling her hand where it definitely should not be, Ed pulled away from her in disgust and stepped back a few paces so there was room between them and she could not reach him again.

"Carlina, I'm afraid I'm going to have to resign because of this behavior."

Carlina looked at Ed longingly. "But you're gorgeous!"

A confused look came over Ed's face for a moment, then it disappeared and he replied, "Even so, I just don't think we should be in the same workspace." He undid his apron, slid off his gloves and placed them on the nearby counter.

"Goodbye, Carlina," he said, then walked past her and out of the restaurant for good.

Carlina stared sadly after him, but dared not to go after him.


	34. Chapter 34

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34

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Ed returned home, sad that he had no more job and also ashamed about what had just taken place in the dishwashing room. He didn't know what had gotten into the heads of all the women he had been meeting lately, and he supposed that he didn't want to know. He only hoped that it would stop because sooner or later Kathy was going to find out about one of these 'flings' and then who knew what would happen...

He was greeted upon entering his house by Kathy. He gave her a kiss and a hug, following routine, but just didn't feel good. He made his way to the couch and sat down, Kathy following behind and sitting next to him.

After a moment's silence, he finally said, "Poodle... I lost my job."

Kathy looked at him, stunned. "What? How? Why? Ed, we need that money!"

"I... I don't know. It just all happened so fast. I'd really rather not talk about it if that's okay with you. Can you just go and get our bankbook?"

Kathy nodded, got up and went to get the bankbook, then returned and handed him the book. Ed took it and flipped to the last page. He added up the numbers, then announced, "We have two hundred and ninety four dollars in the bank. Do you have any money on you? If we find six dollars, we can pay our fee!"

Kathy's eyes widened. "Really? Two hundred and ninety four dollars? I didn't know a dinky little dishwashing job could pay off so quickly. I'll go get my purse." Kathy got off the couch once more and disappeared into the bedroom.

She returned some minutes later, holding an opened purse, which she was looking through as she walked. "Uh... I've found four... twenty-- no... forty... sixty... ssss... seven. Four sixty seven."

Ed bit his lip and nodded. "We need a dollar thirty three." He made a face of concentration, reaching into his pants pocket and feeling around for anything available. When he brought his hand out, he established that he had a quarter, a dime and a nickel. "Okay. Ninety three cents... We can do this... we can do this." He reached into his other pants pocket and brought out a dime, two pennies and a button. "Eighty one cents. Okay, we're almost there. This is possible."

He stood up from the couch, then began tossing the cushions onto the floor like a madman. Kathy surveyed him awkwardly, but did not say anything.

"Aha!" Ed yelled, giving Kathy a fright. He turned to her, holding out three quarters. "Six cents. Oh my gosh, I know we can do this!" Ed walked away from the scattered couch and went to the loveseat. He threw the cushions off as well, then began rummaging through the cracks of the piece of furniture.

All in a moment's time, he fell to the floor and let out a long joyful sigh. Kathy came to him and from his lying spot on the floor, he held out a dime to her.

"We did it," he said simply, a drowsy smile on his face. Kathy smiled back and gave him a kiss. Ed had forgotten about Carlina, about Nadia, about everything he needed to remember, then passed out, happier than he had ever been in the last few months.


	35. Chapter 35

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35

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After mailing out the insurance fees and feeling the burden lifted from their shoulders, Kathy and Ed were able to finally enjoy the last bit of time they had before Howard Brinkley's movie script was due and they had to begin the process of creating the movie.

The day the script was due, Ed awoke knowing straight away what day it was. The first thing he did (after dressing in his favorite sun dress and its matching hat, of course) was go to the telephone table and place a call to the man in charge, himself.

"Hello, Mr. Brinkley?"

There was a yawn on the other end, then Howard replied drowsily, "Edward? Why have you called so early? What's the problem?"

"Oh, sorry. No, no problem, sir. I just wanted to let you know that today's the deadline for the film script and I have it all ready and it's right here and... when can I bring it over?"

"Ah... yeah. Um... you can come over for another dinner tonight if you want and then you can get it to me then."

"Okay. That's great. Normal time?"

"Yeah, whatever you want."

"Alright, Mr. Brinkley. Sorry for disturbing you. Goodbye." Ed hung up. He paced back and forth several times, then began jumping up and down happily. Finally he went to find Kathy.

"Kathy?" Ed asked, walking into the kitchen.

Kathy turned around from the counter and looked at Ed. "Yes? What is it?"

"Hehe... we're going to the Brinkleys for dinner again," Ed replied nervously.

Kathy nodded slowly to herself. "Okay. Sit down and I'll serve you breakfast."

Ed pulled out a chair from the table and lowered himself into it slowly. "You... you _want_ to go?" Ed asked, curiously. From previous experience, he could tell that Kathy didn't like going to Howard's that much but now she seemed to be acting differently. And it was strange.

"Yeah. What's wrong with that?"

"Hmm... uh... well, usually you don't look forward to these dinner outings. What's changed?"

"Nothing. I guess I just find the company of the Brinkleys very enjoyable."

Ed looked at her with uncertainly for a moment, then decided he was acting foolish so he eased up a bit. Kathy placed breakfast in front of Ed, then went back to the counter to serve her own breakfast.

Ed picked up his fork and poked an egg cooked sunny side up with it. Being punctured, yellow goop began oozing from its wound. He watched it in a daze.

Kathy sat down finally and stared at Ed who was staring at the egg. "I never knew breakfast could be so entertaining," She said sarcastically.

Ed shrugged. "Sorry. I've just got things on my mind right now..."

"Care to share?"

"Uhh... not particularly."

Kathy nodded. "Okay. Sure." She paused for a moment, then continued, "But if you ever want to talk, just know that I'm here and I'm willing to listen."

"Yeah... I'll remember that," Ed said distantly. After a minute, he stood up and pushed in his chair. "Honey, if you'll excuse me. I think I need to be alone."

Kathy frowned, watching him walk out of the kitchen.

As he was walking, Ed reached his hand around to his backside to 'adjust himself'. Kathy could just barely hear him from inside the living room say, "Geez, I have the biggest wedgie ever."


	36. Chapter 36

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36

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Ed sulked into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. He just didn't know what was going on. He had felt so good when he woke that morning, but now all of a sudden he was feeling really down.

He walked over to the toilet, pulled the cover down and sat with his head in his hands. He decided that it was when Kathy had accepted going to the Brinkleys that had brought him down. Something about her actually wanting to go was not right. It was fishy.

Or maybe the real 'fishy' thing that was eating away at him was the fact that he had been more and more unfaithful to his wife as of recent. And maybe by telling himself there was something wrong with Kathy rather than himself, he would be able to forget about his own troubles and focus on her make-believe ones.

"What's happened to me?" He sobbed.

He knew perfectly well that there was nothing to blame Kathy for. Only himself. Or... the ladies.

Why was every woman suddenly attracted to him now? He had no idea.

Had he reached his peak in manhood? It was uncertain.

Was there some sort of curse cast upon him that he did not recollect? Perhaps something like that could happen in one of his movies... but not in real life.

Then what was it?

"I don't know," Ed sobbed again. "I just don't know."

But not knowing was only a partial problem. The real problem was: how could he fix it? Could he... 'ugly himself up'? No... Ed was glam. He had to look good. It was his nature. There must be another way!

"I don't know."


	37. Chapter 37

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37

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Kathy knocked on the bathroom door some hours following. "Ed? You alright? It's time to head on over to the Brinkleys. We'll be too late to be early, like how you like it."

"Too late to be early!" Ed immediately stood up from his bowl and opened the door. "There is no such thing as too late to be early, my dear," Ed said in a bold tone and gave Kathy a kiss.

Kathy looked at Ed's dress and pointed. "Is that how you're going?" She asked nervously.

Ed looked down at his dress as well. "What? No, no, no. I'll be back in a sec." He quickly went to the bedroom and switched into a nice suit, then reappeared. He walked to the closet and got his and Kathy's coats, then handed Kathy hers, put his on and opened the front door.

Kathy put the coat on but did not move. She cleared her throat, signifying Ed's absent-mindedness.

He shook his head at her, not understanding.

"I wonder how Mr. Brinkley will read your script when it's all the way over here," she said sarcastically.

Ed's eyes lit up. "Oh, my! Yes! The script! Thank you honey! Thank you! Thank you!" He yelled, kissed Kathy on the forehead, then rushed past her to the typewriter to get the script.

"Sometimes I think that if your head wasn't attached you'd forget it someplace as well," Kathy said as Ed was scrambling to get all of the script pages together.

"Ha ha," Ed said sarcastically, then grabbed Kathy by the arm and pulled her out of the house, shutting the door behind them.

Upon arrival at the Brinkley residence, Ed felt that churning in his stomach when he saw the house just as he had on the previous visits. He just admired this man so much and felt honored to even breathe the same air as him.

When they were all seated, Mr. Brinkley said, "So, Edward. You have the script for me?"

"Oh, I sure do," Ed replied, taking the bundle of papers from under his arm and holding it out to Howard. Howard took it and looked down thoughtfully at the cover, then flipped through some of the pages quickly, inspecting it.

"If you don't mind, I'll save reading it for later," Howard said.

Ed nodded. "Yeah, sure. That's fine by me. Read it whenever you like. I have a feeling that you'll like it, though."

"Really? Well, that's nice. I hope you're right-- In fact, I know you're right. You're a very good writer, if I do say so myself."

Ed began to blush like a little schoolgirl. "Aw, shucks."

Kathy winced, embarrassed at Ed's behavior around Brinkley. She just felt that it wasn't proper for a man to act this way because of another man. It was unheard of.

Speaking of 'unheard of'... Nadia hadn't even heard anything that had been said while they were sitting. Since Ed entered their house, all she had been doing was gazing helplessly with an open mouth at him, wishing she were married to him... or at least on top of him.

Suddenly, she stood up and said, "Ed, can you come help me in the kitchen?"

Ed's face went from red to white, but he stood up as well. "Uhh okay," he replied, then followed Nadia down to the kitchen.

It wasn't long before Ed was backed against the wall with Nadia's face in his shirt.

"Listen, Nadia. I'm really flattered and all that you want to be all over me all the time and that you find something in me... for some strange reason... but his has got to stop."

"Oh Ed, you are so funny," Nadia giggled, then began working her tongue in his ear.

"No, really. It's making me... sad."

"Sad?" Nadia asked, kissing up and down his neck.

"Yes. I just think about what would happen if Kathy found out and--"

"Kathy will never find out."

"You don't know that. She could. Besides, I love her and I don't think this is right."

"Yes, yes. It is."

"No, it really isn't. I am spoken for and I don't want anyone jamming their tongue into any of my orifices unless they're my wife."

"But you like it."

"Uhh... no. I don't. What makes you, the girl at McGinty's, and every other woman on the planet think that I like it when I'm unfaithful to my wife?"

Nadia pulled herself of off Ed and looked him in the eye. "Th-There are o-others?"

"If it's female, it wants me. I'm even starting to get a little bit worried about the males--"

Nadia turned her head away from Ed and bit her fist. "What's her name?"

"Who?"

"That girl at McGinty's?"

"Carlina Epstein. Geez, you just don't do that to your employee! I mean, come on!"

"That bitch," Nadia said coldly.

Ed gasped. "There's certainly no need for that kind of naughty language, missy!" Ed said, waving a finger in her direction. "Wait-- What?"

"How _dare_ she try to steal my man!" Nadia said angrily, her eyes burning with hatred.

"_YOUR_ man? Good gravy, lady. How many times do I have to tell you? I love Kathy, not you. Not anyone else on this godforsaken earth. Kathy. K-A-T-H-Y."

Nadia moved away from Ed and began to the counter. "I think I'm going to go down and have a talk with this 'Carlina Epstein'."

"What... what is wrong with everyone! Has everyone just gone completely and utterly insane!"

"I'll show her that taking things that aren't yours is not very nice..." Nadia picked up a knife and began to chop celery quickly with it. "Yes... I'll show her good."

Ed shook his head in disbelief, eyes wide with shock. He slipped out of the kitchen and back to the living room to engage once again with some normal people. Just as he was finished buttoning up his shirt and adjusting his clothing, he reached the living room and stared confusedly at what he was observing taking place.

Kathy and Howard were standing together, not just reciting lines from his script, but acting it out.

"... So. Word on the street is that there's been a werewolf around these parts. Do you know anything about this, ma'am?" Howard asked in a New Yorker accent.

"Do I know anything about this? No. Why would you think I would?" Kathy replied in a frail, grandmother-like voice.

"Let's just say we received an anonymous tip."

"From who!"

"It's anonymous."

"I see... well then..." Kathy suddenly began running around the couch. "You can't arrest me if you can't catch me! Hahahahahaaaaaa!"

"Oh, now I--" Howard looked up and saw Ed standing in the hallway, watching them. Kathy stopped running and saw Ed as well.

"I see you were testing out my script."

"Oh yeah, Edward! This is gold!" Howard said, holding the script up. "Kathy and I decided we'd look it over just for fun and boy, it really is great!"

"Really? Oh wow. I thought you were just mocking me or something."

"Nah! We love it. I love it. I couldn't have chosen a better guy for the job."

Ed's face went red again, then everything went black and he fell to the floor, out cold.


	38. Chapter 38

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38

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After Ed's little fainting incident at the Brinkley's, Kathy had been poking fun at Ed and his excitement over a man.

The next morning as Kathy was dropping out a familiar ol' one-liner about Ed's 'incident', the phone rang. Ed walked to the phone table to answer it as Kathy waited patiently for Ed to come back so she could finish her teasing.

"Hello?"

"Edward!" Greeted Mr. Brinkley, certainly sounding more enthusiastic than the last time they had spoken on the phone.

"Mr. Brinkley, hey! What's going on?" Ed asked, holding as much enthusiasm as Brinkley. Most likely even more.

"Our film we've been working on has to start shooting next week, so I need you to gather actors to star in the film. You think you can handle that? I need a list by Tuesday."

"I can handle it just as much as I can handle a four-inch heel," Ed said, nodding and smiling to himself.

"Uhh... ok? Anyways, let's meet for lunch at McGinty's on Tuesday so you can show me your list. On Tuesday's they serve a special Super Mexicali Fiesta Brunch. You can't miss it."

"Believe me, I won't."

"I know. Well, it was nice talking. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Ed replaced the receiver then fell back into a chair, fanning himself off.

Kathy looked at Ed from across the room, a wry look upon her face. "Let me guess. Oh... I'd say that was Mr. Brinkley, wasn't it?"

Ed continued to fan himself. "You're right." He looked around the room. "Woo... is it hot in here or is it just me?"

"Well, now I'd have to say it's just you, you lame-o because you just talked to your boyfriend and now you're all hot and bothered."

"I am not hot and bothered!" Ed whined girlishly.

"Yeah. And the sky's not blue. Give me a break."

"Hah. You're wrong. The sky's not blue. It's indigo."

"Oh? And where'd you learn that? Is it from color coordinating your dresses?"

Ed stopped fanning himself, crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. "Maybe."

Kathy continued to look at him with that sense of being up to something or against him for a moment longer, then the look turned into a smile, she walked over to Ed's chair and sat on his lap "Oh, honey. Don't you know I'm just kidding?"

Ed looked up at her, still pouting with his arms crossed. "You are?"

She turned and put her arms around his neck. "Yes. I find it cute that you have a... boyfriend."

"You do?" Ed asked, but it was getting harder to keep in his pouting position.

Kathy moved in and kissed his neck. "Yes." She kissed a bit lower. "I" Lower. "Do."

Ed laughed, uncrossed his arms and placed them around Kathy's waist. "Hah. That tickles."

"Good. Now, do you think that you'd enjoy it if it were Mr. Brinkley sitting on your lap instead?"

For a brief moment, Ed pictured Howard on his lap instead. Then the image disappeared and Ed cringed. Kathy nodded. "Exactly."

"Oh, I love you cupcake. Hey, you know Mr. Brinkley's got a new assignment for me." Kathy looked at Ed with a raised brow. "Yeah. It's a small job, though. He just wants me to fill all the actor's spots."

Kathy nodded. "Yeah... that sounds simple enough."

"Yup. Hey... you seemed to like the script. When you were reading it, did you have any actors in mind who would fit the roles?"

Kathy thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Sorry. No."

Ed nodded. "That's okay. I can manage myself. But thanks for the help anyway."

"Your welcome," Kathy replied and kissed him.

Ed smiled. "You know who I could really see playing the grandmother's role? I mean... It's just so perfect for them..."

"Who?"

"Bela."

"Bela? Oh... Ed. Bela died. Don't you remember? You went to his funeral..."

"Yeah, I know. But in my mind, it's just like a pair of Gucci gloves... a perfect fit. It's so him! I can just imagine him transforming into a werewolf and being chased by police. Aww... Bela..."

Kathy patted his shoulder. "Oh, I know, sweetie. But there's nothing you can do about it."

"Yeah. It's sad. But... there is something we an do, actually."

Kathy raised an eyebrow once more. "I hope it doesn't involve a shovel..."

Ed looked at her, appalled. "No, no! Not anything for the movie. There's nothing we can do about that. But we can go pay him our respects by visiting his grave."

"Oh, alright! That's really sweet. We should go tomorrow."

Ed nodded. "And so tomorrow it is."

Kathy nodded as well, then began unbuttoning Ed's shirt. Suddenly she stopped. "Ed, what's that?" Kathy asked, pointing.

Ed looked down and saw a red circular mark on his chest. He quickly began doing his shirt up again. "Nothing."

For the third time in their conversation, Kathy raised an eyebrow.


	39. Chapter 39

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39

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After stopping at the local florist to buy a bouquet of flowers to place on Bela's grave, Ed and Kathy continued on to the graveyard in which the man who had played Dracula was buried.

Walking along a sidewalk aligned by trees, they suddenly gave away to the fenced enclosing of the graveyard. Ed saw the rows of tombstones, took out his handkerchief and began bawling. Kathy patted his shoulder. "It's okay, Ed."

Ed nodded and continued to cry into his handkerchief as they walked. When they reached the gate, Kathy opened it, then shut it behind them and they made their way down the path in the middle of the graveyard, heading down to the back where Bela Lugosi was situated.

He had never visited Bela's grave before. Not because he had forgotten or didn't care, but because he didn't think he could handle it. And he certainly was proving himself right. The last time he had been here was at the funeral service when they buried the coffin. He had remembered the ceremony before they had brought the coffin outside, it had been an open-casket service in the church and Bela had looked pretty good for being dead.

Bela had specifically demanded in his last will and testament to be placed in his coffin wearing his full Dracula outfit with the makeup included and his arms crossed over his chest. Bela had really looked nice, Ed thought.

But the problem was that he probably didn't look nice anymore. It had been quite a while since his death. About a couple of years. And after a couple of years in the ground, a person doesn't really look like a person anymore. Ed knew he'd always be there in spirit, though. And that was better than nothing.

Ed remembered all the good times he and Bela had had. All the bad ones as well... but the better ones seemed to reign higher than any bad time possibly could. Even though Bela was a suicidal drug addict who had tried to take Ed's life as well at one time or another, Ed still loved the old man and he missed talking to him and having him as company.

Reaching Bela's tombstone, they stopped. Ed blew his nose into his handkerchief and placed it in his pocket for further use if he needed it. His eyes wet and red, he kneeled down on the ground next to the grave, not caring at all about getting himself dirty. He read the tombstone in his head,

BELA LUGOSI

1882-1956

"Beware. Beware!

Beware, of the big

green dragon that

sits on your door-

step. He eats little

boys! Puppy dog

tails! Big fat snails!

Beware. Take care.

Beware!"

Ed sighed and more tears came pouring from his eyes. Oh, how he had forgotten that Bela had requested they put his lines from Ed's film, "Glen or Glenda" on his tombstone. It was such a sweet gesture and Ed really appreciated it.

He took his handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his eyes once more, then replaced it and stood still in his kneeling position. He took the bouquet of flowers he had bought and looked at them. After some moments he carefully placed them in front of the tombstone. Then he took a few more moments just to kneel there in silence, thinking about everything that needed to be thought of.

Kathy waited by, patiently, knowing that Ed really needed this and didn't want to disturb him. He would leave when he was ready to leave.

Slowly, Ed raised to his feet and brushed some soil from the knees of his pants. He went to Kathy, linked his arm in hers and then, with his face buried in his handkerchief, they began on their way home.


	40. Chapter 40

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40

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Even though he was in tears practically his whole visit to Bela's grave, it had made him feel a lot better and had cleared his mind, making him able to get down to business on Mr. Brinkley's tasks.

For the remaining days until his lunch with Brinkley, Ed had been hard at work thinking of not only actors that were suitable for the roles, but also actors who would be willing to do the film. Let's face it, Ed didn't have a very good reputation.

After hours of thinking, calling agents and meeting some actors to discuss working on the film, Ed had finally assembled his cast list. And fortunately he had just made it on time because the next day was his and Howard's lunch meeting.

Ed walked down Pavilion Street all the way to McGinty's, early as usual. He sat in the booth that he and Howard had normally taken on their lunches and stared out the window at the sky, waiting for Brinkley to show up. He was very excited about what Howard would think about Ed's arrangement.

Ed turned his head after a while to see if Brinkley had arrived yet, and was surprised to see him just pulling into the booth at that moment. Ed put out his hand. "Hey! Mr. Brinkley!"

Howard took Ed's hand and shook it. "Hello, Edward. Before we begin, I'd like to order our lunch."

"Yeah, sure."

Howard raised his hand to signal the waitress. The lazy one, which they always got, made her way through the restaurant and to their booth. "Yeah?" She asked, chewing gum. She took her notepad from her apron pocket and opened it, ready to take down the order.

"We'll have two Super Mexicali Fiesta specials."

"That's all?"

Ed and Howard nodded.

The waitress scribbled down in her little notepad, then trundled away to give the order out to be made.

Howard turned back to Ed and looked at him. "So, now where were we?"

"Yeah, um... I want to show you the list I made of people to work on our film. I've got the whole cast ready." He took a notebook out from his coat, placed it on the table and slid it across to Howard.

Howard took it in his hands and opened, to reveal a list of names.

"I think you'll be very pleased," Ed added.

Howard nodded then skimmed down the list, seeing whom Ed had managed to get for the film. When he was finished, he closed the book and looked at Ed silently.

"Uh... is it okay?"

Howard nodded slowly. "Yeah, well, these aren't REALLY famous names but I'm surprised you actually got all these people to agree. You must've worked very hard on it."

"Oh, I did, Mr. Brinkley. I went through so many people because many of them didn't want to do the movie for various reasons. But these are the lucky people we got and that's all that matters. Now we can start filming on schedule, like you had planned and everything."

"Yeah, that really is superb, Edward. You know, I'm proud of you."

"You are? Why?"

"Because you're being worked to your limits with small periods of time to get jobs done and you haven't broken down or so much as flinched all along the way so far."

Ed began to blush. "Oh, Mr. Brinkley," he said, embarrassedly.

The waitress returned with the Mexicali Fiesta fun and set the giant platters of food down on the table, then trudged away back to the counter.

In no time, Brinkley was all over his platter. Ed ate his at a normal pace.

"So, we'll begin filming on Friday at my studio. It's just around the cor--"

Ed held his hand up to Brinkley, "Just around the corner of Maxwell and Eaton. There's no need to tell me twice, Mr. Brinkley. I know everything about you."

Mr. Brinkley nodded. "Everything? Ah... okay," he said nervously.

"Yep. I'm a fan of yours, remember?"

"Yeah, sure. Uhh... well, I think we should celebrate being able to do our filming on Friday. How about you bring Kathy over tonight for another one of our famous dinners?" Brinkley asked.

"Sure thing, Mr. Brinkley."

"Enjoying your Mexicali Fiesta?" Brinkley asked, shoving a handful of chili covered nachos in his mouth.

Ed poked a small nacho at some bean dip and nodded. "Yeah. It's pretty swell."

Brinkley pointed at an untouched taco on Ed's platter. "You gonna eat that?"

Ed shook his head, "No, you can have it."

Brinkley rubbed his hands together in enjoyment, took Ed's taco and placed it on his own platter. "Ooh. Thanks."

Just as Ed was about to open his mouth to say something else, a high-pitched scream ran through the entire restaurant. It sounded as though it had come from the back room.

"Geez! What the hell was that?" Howard asked, alarmed.

Ed took his napkin and wiped off his mouth. "I don't know." He stood up from the booth. "But I'm going to find out." And then he was on his way to the back. Brinkley shrugged, saw he had finished his own platter, then moved Ed's in front of him and began on that one.

Ed reached the counter, saw no one there. So, with the eyes of bewildered customers watching him, he walked behind and pushed open the door that led to the back room. And on the floor he saw Carlina Epstein with Nadia Brinkley kneeling over her, pulling her hair. The lazy waitress was off to the side, watching the brawl... lazily.

"What are you doing! Get off of me! Get off!" Carlina cried.

Nadia continued to grasp her hair, banging Carlina's head over and over on the concrete floor. "You bitch! You bitch! He's mine!"

"No. Stop," The waitress said, lazily, twirling her hair around on her finger.

"Ahhhhh! Help!" Carlina screamed, trying to get away, but Nadia was too strong.

"No. Don't," The waitress said.

Ed stood in the doorway, his mouth wide open, trying to make sense of the whole situation. After his shock wore off, he hurried over to the fighting females and grabbed Nadia away from Carlina. "What do you think you're doing!"

Nadia wriggled her way out of his grip and back to Carlina who had managed to get to her feet. "I'm showing her what happens when she steals MY MAN," Nadia said, rushing over to Carlina. She slapped her across the face.

Carlina's head shot back from the impact and her nose began to bleed. Finally, she gathered herself and shoved Nadia into the wall. "Your man? He's my man!" Carlina yelled, then kneed Nadia in the stomach.

Nadia doubled over, holding herself. Carlina shook her hair away from her face and nodded to herself, proud of what she had just done. But she wasn't nodding for long. Nadia straightened out, growled, and tackled Carlina to the floor. "Bitch!" She yelled from on top of Carlina, then began smacking her.

"Please. Stop," The waitress said, filing her nails.

Ed quickly pried Nadia from Carlina again. This time he held on hard to her arm. "Ladies, ladies!" Ed yelled. "I am neither one of yours!"

Nadia began thrashing around in Ed's grip and it was getting harder to hold onto her. Frightened, Carlina inched back against the wall and cowered in the corner, staring at Nadia thrashing. Nadia bent her head down and bit Ed on the arm and he let go of her. "Ow! Good golly geez!" He yelled, holding his arm.

Then Nadia was back on Carlina in the corner. They began rolling around on the ground, closer and closer to the waitress. The bundle of Nadia and Carlina touched the waitress's feet and she stepped back a bit. "Hey. Quit it," she said.

Ed began to have a fit. "That's it! Both of you have gone too far!" He yelled. But the fight was still going strong. "I hate both of you!" He yelled.

The bundle of Nadia and Carlina stopped rolling and both women looked up at Ed.

"I hate you both! I hate you! You're both ugly!" He continued.

Nadia and Carlina separated and looked at Ed in awe.

"I wouldn't even wash my car with the dresses you're wearing! ... if I had a car..."

The two women stood up and approached Ed, still in awe.

"And your hairstyles! They're okay if you live in... THE 40'S!"

Nadia and Carlina's eyes both widened at the same time. They stood on either side of Ed.

"D-Do you really mean that, Ed?" Nadia asked with a wavering tone.

"Yeah. D-D-Do you?" Carlina asked, wavering as well.

Ed crossed his arms over his chest and took on a serious look. "Yes," he said, nodding to himself, sadly.

Tears began pouring from both females' eyes. Nadia placed her hand on Ed's shoulder. Carlina's, on his back.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ed," Carlina began bawling. "I'm sorry." She kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Me too," Nadia cried, rubbing her hand on Ed's shoulder. Then she began planting kisses all over Ed's face.

Carlina's hand found it's way to Ed's backside and she began nibbling on his ear.

"Whoa! Ladies!" Ed cried in shock.

Carlina and Nadia immediately stopped and looked at eachother. "Maybe we can share?" Carlina asked, teary-eyed.

Nadia nodded, dabbing at her eyes. "Yeah, that could work."

Ed backed away from the women, wide-eyed. "Don't I have any say in this?" He asked, horrified.

Nadia and Carlina began approaching him, tears drying and smiles appearing on their faces. Ed continued to back away from them. But soon he was backed up against the wall with nowhere left to go. The two women pushed him down to the ground and sat on either side of him. Then they were busy undressing him and applying themselves to his body.

"Carlina! Nadia! We can't do this! I don't want to!"

Nadia stopped for a moment, said, "Yes you do," then went back to kissing.

"But that waitress is still here!" Ed said, pointing to the lazy girl. He was trying to find anything that could turn them off so they'd just let him be. He was praying it would work.

Carlina looked up from Ed's chest to see the waitress standing at the other end of the room, watching them. Then she shrugged. "It's okay. Shirley _likes to watch_."

"Noooooooooo!" Ed yelled.

"Shhh!" Both females hushed.

Not listening, he yelled again.

His yell went through the entire restaurant, as Carlina's scream had before. The customers, bewildered once more looked around for its source, didn't find it, went back to what they had been doing.

Howard, stuffed from one and a half lunches, sat back against his seat, licking each finger simultaneously. He was none the wiser, as well. No one could help Ed.


	41. Chapter 41

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41

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Ed had thought that one hickey was bad. Boy, was he wrong. Now his whole chest was covered with the buggers. Luckily, his makeup collection consisted of the right cover-up to hide the hideous blemishes.

Another luck he had had, was that Nadia and Carlina had not forced him into... 'submission.' They weren't into that. It seemed as though they just enjoyed harassing him without going all the way. Which he supposed was slightly better for his and Kathy's sake... somehow.

But he still was often depressed as to what to do about the whole situation, and often cried to himself alone, locked in the bathroom sitting on the toilet.

He really hoped his hickeys would fade away soon. Until then, he'd have to hide from Kathy. And it would be hard.

As they walked to the Brinkley house, Ed saw a small corner store and told Kathy that he needed to go in there to get something.

"What is it that you need to get?" Kathy asked, walking through the doorway and into the little shop.

Ed walked in after her and let go of the door he had been holding. It closed and a set of bells attached jingled happily. "Well. Mr. Brinkley's been really kind to me and I just wanted to get him something as a little token of my appreciation."

Kathy nodded, looking around the store at all the items. "That's nice."

Ed looked around for a bit, then went up to the front desk clerk. "Hello," The young girl greeted, seeing Ed.

"Hi. I was wondering if you have any cigars?"

The girl nodded, smiling and staring intently at him. "We sure do," she said, pointing at the shelving behind her that contained various cigarettes, liquor and cigars, but still keeping her eyes on Ed.

"Ah, I see," Ed said, squinting, trying to look at the brands of cigars from where he was standing. "I guess you gotta hide them from the kiddies."

The clerk nodded, staring at him and smiling wider than ever.

Kathy found nothing of interest in the store, came up behind Ed and stood, waiting for him to finish so they could leave.

Ed pointed to the shelf. "Uh, I'll take a box of Lexington's."

The clerk, making sure she still had her eyes on Ed, grabbed a box of Lexington's from the shelf and placed them on the counter. "Will that be all?" She asked, still smiling.

Ed turned to Kathy. "You want anything, sugar?" He asked.

Kathy shook her head no and Ed turned back to the clerk. "Just that."

The clerk rang up the box of cigars and stared at Ed some more. "That'll be seven twenty-two, please."

Kathy's eyes widened. "Wow. Cigars sure are expensive! Are you sure we can afford this, Ed?"

Ed took his wallet from his pocket and began rummaging through it. "Oh, Kathy. You wouldn't want to deny Mr. Brinkley his gift, now would you? He really, really deserves it."

Kathy rolled her eyes. "I can tell you something else he deserves..." She muttered under her breath.

"What's that, snookums?"

"Nothing," Kathy replied.

Ed handed the clerk the cash and she deposited it into the register, still smiling and staring. Then she placed the box of cigars into a paper bag, handed the bag and a receipt to Ed.

"Thank you, miss," he said. "Have a good day."

"You too," She replied and gave Ed a wink.

Ed frowned and he and Kathy left the store.

"What was THAT all about?" Kathy asked as they reached the outside and continued their way to the Brinkleys.

Ed gulped and wiped some sweat from his forehead. "Nothing... nothing..."

Kathy eyed Ed suspiciously, nevertheless did not speak. In fact, not another word was spoken until they arrived at Howard's front doorstep.

They were ushered inside and Ed was able to present his gift to Howard.

"Oh! How kind of you, Edward!" He said, taking the cigars from Ed and setting them down on the coffee table. "Lexington's! My favorite brand!"

Ed blushed in front of his favorite man-friend, then cowered from Nadia as she asked him to 'help' her in the kitchen as she usually did.

Nadia began unbuttoning Ed's shirt.

"Nadia, there's only so many hickeys a man can take. You've turned me into some kind of... jacked-up Dalmatian."

"Ruff ruff," Nadia replied and pulled his shirt open. "I don't mind if you've g-- Ahh!" She said, disgustedly, seeing Ed's spotted chest. She closed his shirt, kissed him, and then backed away a bit.

"I'm going to start on dinner... lend me a hand?"

Ed buttoned up his shirt and fixed himself up. "Sure," He said happily. Perhaps he had found a way out? He only hoped so... "What are we making?"

"Potatoes Au Graton."

Ed's mouth began to water. "P-P-P-Potatoes Au Graton?" He asked, his stomach grumbling.

"Yes. Why?"

"I loooooove Potatoes Au Graton!" Ed said, giddy.

"Then I'll make sure to give you an extra-big portion, my darling," Nadia said, playfully tapping Ed on the nose with her finger.

He looked at the countertop and saw some potatoes sitting there. "Potatoes!" He said cheerfully and picked one up. He rubbed his hand along it, then brought it to his face and rubbed it along his cheek. "I love you, Mr. Potato."

Nadia regarded him with a furrowed brow and put some oven mitts on. "Yeah... you do that. I'll be over here making chicken salad."

"Potato," Ed said simply, staring at his starchy friend.


	42. Chapter 42

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42

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Following dinner, the Brinkeys and Woods took part in a fun game of Charades. Ed and Kathy paired as Team 1 and to Nadia's dismay, she and Howard paired as Team 2 even after suggesting that it would be interesting to mix and match the couples. But luckily for Ed, Howard dismissed the idea and stuck to simple partnering.

After a few rounds of puzzle guessing, Ed and Kathy proved to be the stronger couple of the two, leading 4:2.

Ed's turn came up again and he got up happily, enjoying the fun in the simplicity of the common little game. He drew a subject card from the deck that lay on the coffee table, glanced at it, then raised his eyebrows and smiled, anxious to dig his paws into the chosen subject.

He got up in front of his audience and began by holding up three fingers.

"Three words!" Kathy yelled out.

Ed nodded and held up a finger.

"First word!"

Ed nodded. He put his fists to his face and pretended to cry.

"Sad!" Kathy shouted.

Ed shook his head, and put more emphasis into his performance.

"Crying!"

Ed shook his head harder and continued to bawl, drying his fake tears with his fists.

"Blue!" Kathy yelled out.

Ed pointed at her and nodded vigorously. Then he held up two fingers.

"Second word!"

Ed nodded, then looked around the room. He paused and looked at Mr. Brinkley. He pointed at him.

"Mr. Brinkley! Blue Mr. Brinkley!"

Ed shook his head and pointed at Mr. Brinkley's upper body.

"Mr. Brinkley's torso!"

Ed shook his head and pointed with both hands.

"Jacket! Blue Mr. Brinkey's jacket!"

Ed sighed and continued pointing.

Kathy looked at Howard's jacket, thought a moment, and then yelled "Suede!"

Ed nodded happily then held up three fingers.

"Third word!"

Ed nodded and pointed at his feet.

"Feet! Toes! Blue Suede Feet! Blue Swede Toes!"

Ed shook his head and lifted up a leg. He pointed over and over again at his shoe.

"Shoe! Blue Suede Shoe! Shoe! Blue Swede Shoes!" She yelled.

"Yes!" Ed yelled, happy at their triumph. They really did work well together as a couple, he thought and ran over to Kathy. She jumped up from her seat on the couch and he took her up in his arms and spun her around, hugging her. Then he put her down and turned to Howard. "Hah! 5:2, Mr. Brinkley. Beat that!"

Mr. Brinkley stood up from his seat as Ed and Kathy sat down. He drew a card, looked at it with indifference, then put it away. He stood in front of his audience, ready to perform but was interrupted by Nadia saying, "I don't want to play."

"What?" Howard asked.

"I'm not in the mood. I don't want to play anymore. You can continue without me, but I'm not playing anymore," she said, playing around with a lock of her hair.

"You're a spoilsport. We have company over. Why can't you--"

"I can double up as your partner too," Ed interrupted, not wanting a fight to break out between Howard and Nadia.

Howard considered the idea, then nodded. "Well, okay. I was just going to suggest we stop playing, but if you really want to..."

"Yes. I do. Now... let's see some Charades, Mr. Brinkley!"

Nadia continued to play with her hair, completely oblivious to her surroundings. She found the game a menial task and didn't want anything to do with it. She'd much rather prefer taking Ed back to her bedroom to show him a more pleasing game or two.

Brinkley held up two fingers.

"Two words!" Ed yelled cheerfully, enjoying the game just as much as always.

Brinkley nodded and held up a finger.

"First word!"

Mr. Brinkley nodded, then placed his hands near his head and moved them up and down some inches back and forth.

"Head! Skull!" Ed yelled.

Brinkley shook his head and continued to do the action, then began to rub his head.

"Hair! No hair! ... Bald! I'm bald! Oh, that's it! That's two words! 'I'm bald!' Is it 'I'm bald?'"

Howard stopped his motions and stared at Ed with an open mouth, gaping at him. Ed looked at Kathy and she was gaping at him as well. He looked to Nadia and she had her hand over her mouth, snickering.

"It's not 'I'm bald' I'm assuming, then..." Ed said, embarrassedly.

All of a sudden, Nadia could suppress her snickers no more and burst into a fit of laughter.

Ignoring her, Ed looked at Mr. Brinkley, worried about what was to happen.

Finally, Howard spoke. "Top hat, Edward! Top hat! How does this mean 'I'm b-- what you thought it meant! How!"

Ed inched away backward into the cushioning of the couch he was sitting on. "I'm sorry, Mr. Brinkley," he said nervously, cowering. "I'm so sorry."

Mr. Brinkley looked at Ed and frowned. Then he looked at his wife who was still laughing like there was no tomorrow, his frown grew deeper, she looked up at him and her laughing stopped abruptly. Howard looked back to Ed, still frowning, and mumbled under his breath.

"What was that, Mr. Brinkley?" Ed asked nervously, having not heard what he had mumbled.

"I said: 'I'm not bald. I'm BALD**ING**. There's a difference.'," He repeated, softly.

Ed gave Howard a strange look, Kathy was still gaping, and Nadia immediately burst into fits of laughter once again.


	43. Chapter 43

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43

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Ed showed up to Howard's filming studio, excited about their filming and ready for anything in store for them.

He sat in a director's chair with another empty director's chair next to it (that one being Howard's) and waited along anxiously. Howard was talking to the set workers, explaining how everything should be placed and so on. Ed watched Howard speak from a distance and, even though he could not hear what he was saying, he could tell from the hand gestures that Howard was making to the set workers that it was probably something really smart.

Howard spread his hands apart from eachother, gesturing a long object to the set workers. "I want a foot-long sub for lunch, okay? You got that?" He looked behind his shoulder and saw Ed sitting in the director's chair watching him, gave him a friendly smile, then turned back to the set workers. "Make that two," he said holding up two fingers to the workers. "Ham and swiss on a rye bread. And a side of coleslaw. And some soda. Is that clear?"

The set workers nodded in unison. "We got it all down, Mr. Brinkley."

Howard nodded to himself, proudly. "Good." Then he began to the director's chairs to join up with Ed.

As he approached the empty chair, Ed said, "Some pretty hard stuff, directing. Eh?" Howard eased himself down into the chair, which was looking to be too small for a man of his... physique.

"Darn chair..." Howard muttered, then looked up at Ed. "Oh, yes. Yes. Quite a doozy."

"Yeah. But you looked like you really had it under control over there. I'm sure everything's gonna work out fine."

"Uh, yeah. Those guys were all over the place... but I set them straight, I did. Yep yep."

"Well, anyways, I guess we should start filming now." Ed rolled up his sleeve to look at his watch, then put it back down and continued, "We're already off schedule."

"Off schedule?" Howard asked, fidgeting around in his too-tight-of-a-fit chair that was pinching areas of him that he didn't think Nadia had ever even pinched before. He groaned and lifted up his sleeve to look at his watch as well. "Ed, you're crazy. We've got plenty of time. Ouch!"

"Tsk, Tsk, Mr. Brinkley. If you want this film completed by the end of next week you're going to have to get a move on."

Howard shook his head and sighed, annoyed at both Ed and the chair. But the chair was winning by a long shot. "Edward, I know you want to call the shots here but... well... this sort of is my movie, you know. You're just like... helping. So when I say something, that's what we go by and that's it."

Ed scoffed at Howard. Outrage and anger had replaced his anxiousness. "I... I'm just going to step out for a little bit, if you don't mind," Ed said, got up from his seat and moped away slowly, Howard watching him disappear into one of the empty makeup rooms. The door shut and then there was nothing to look at but the painted surface.

Ed slouched against the wall of the room. He put a hand to his cheek and began to think. A depressed look came upon his normally handsome face.

He wondered what he had gotten himself into... Wondered if maybe he should just get up and leave and never come back. Howard would be better without him, he supposed. Yes. He would leave and rid Howard of all annoyances and nuisances that were associated with Edward D. Wood Junior.

He straightened out and away from his slouching on the wall and stood for a brief moment. He was just about to start out of the door, when he felt his legs become all rubbery and with a loss of feeling.

"Oh, I've gone and stressed myself out now," Ed said to himself quietly. Holding onto the wall for support, he staggered over to the makeup counter which had a row of chairs placed in front of a large mirrored area outlined with bright circular lightbulbs, and collapsed into one of the chairs.

"Oh! I'm swooning!" Ed said dramatically, though in a soft voice. He quickly began fanning himself with his hand, hoping it would reverse his sudden fainting feelings.

After the light dizzy spell wore off, he leaned his elbows on the makeup counter, placed his head in his hands and stared at his reflection in the mirror.

_Such strange things, mirrors_, he thought. He blinked and watched the reflection blink back. He winked and the reflection kindly winked back.

"You copycat," he said to the reflection, playfully. He was beginning to forget all of his woes.

He stuck his tongue out and the man in the mirror did so as well.

He was studying his tongue when all of a sudden: "That's no way to stick out a tongue, boy. You'll never frighten anyone like that. You've got to do it like this..."

Shocked and confused, Ed turned to look at the empty chair next to him, only it was not empty anymore. If was filled with... Bela Lugosi!

"Bela!" Ed said, amazed. He surveyed Bela, who was sticking his tongue out at him, and noticed that for some reason he just didn't look right. He looked very worn... very pale... and there was this unmistakable quality of... transparency.

"Bela? Is that you? Or have I gone crazy?"

"A little bit of both, Eddie. A little bit of both."

"Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be... um..." Ed could not bring himself to say the words, but with his index finger he pointed to the ground as if to signify 'six feet under'.

"Oh, I am. But I'm not really even here anyways. This is just your imagination."

Ed nodded. "Ahh... I see."

"Yes... Well, I saw that you were having some trouble and I just wanted to stop by to give you a few pointers."

"Well, point away."

"You seem to be getting worked up over silly things. Why is that, my boy?"

"Oh, Bela. It's so great to hear that lovely Hungarian accent of yours again. I've missed it so, you know."

"Yes, yes. This lovey-dovey crap is really wonderful but I don't have all day, you know. A spirit's got a hectic schedule. Fuck. Let's get on with it. Now, tell me. Why does it make you so upset?"

"I dunno... It's like... this whole time we've been working together as a team and then all of a sudden he springs this on me. I mean, I thought I had some say in things. He never said that he was calling all the shots."

"Did he?" Bela asked, precariously.

"No. Never."

"Well then, think back. Think back to the first time that he called you. What were his exact words?"

Ed summoned his memory of his and Howard's first conversation and clearly remembered Howard saying,

'I thought that it would be great if you could assist me with some of it'

Bela looked at Ed sternly. "See, Eddie? _Assisting_ with _some_ of it is hardly the same thing as making important decisions. If there's anyone to blame for miscommunication, I'm afraid it's you, my boy."

Ed thought it over for a moment, then it all clicked and he looked up at Bela. "Wow, Bela. I didn't realize that. You've really opened up my eyes! Thank you so much. What could I ever do to repay you?"

"You could get me a fucking bigger coffin, Christ almighty! Jesus is that thing ever cramped! Talk about small! There's no fucking space in that goddamned thing!"

Ed looked down at his feet, ashamed at the words that came from Bela's mouth. He was a nice guy, but he always had to use such... icky words. Ed cleared his throat and Bela looked at Ed, ashamed of himself as well.

"Hah, I'm just pulling your leg anyways, Eddie. I'm dead, remember? I don't need anything. But thanks for asking."

"You are? Oh, yeah... My imagination. Aw, cracker jacks..." Ed said, gloomily. He looked up at Bela with bright, yet teary eyes. "Well, you'll visit me again, won't you? Say you will."

"I don't know about that."

Without thinking, Ed suddenly reached a hand out and grabbed Bela's own hand. But it simply went through just as though Bela's had been made of fog.

"Goodbye Eddie, my dear."

"Goodbye," Ed said sadly. "Thanks bunches. You've really made me feel tons better."

"Don't mention it, kid," Bela said and vanished into thin air.

Ed stood up, forgetting of his previous swooning incidents, marched to the door and pulled it open. He stood in the doorframe for a moment, feeling a power surge through himself, then continued back to Howard and the director chairs. He sat down next to Howard without a word.

Howard looked at him. "You okay?"

"Never felt better."

"You know, when I was alone here, I got to thinking. And maybe I was being a little too harsh. Besides, if we shoot it your way we'll save tons of bucks. You're a genius."

Ed simply sat there and smiled.

"Thanks, Bela," He whispered to himself.


	44. Chapter 44

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44

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After a grueling day of shooting what they could of the film, Ed walked out of the filming studio, the heavy door slamming tightly behind him. He trundled down the sidewalk, hands stuffed into his pants pockets. He felt kind of hungry, he supposed. He really hadn't eaten that much all day. After feeling not so much in the mood for lunch, he had let Howard have most of his portion of the meal. But now Ed was feeling hungry again.

He walked the sidewalks, not realizing that he had now turned on Pavilion Street. Later, he had supposed that he had done it on some subconscious level. So, as he was on his way back home, he saw McGinty's just off in the distance. He had not set foot into the place since his little mishap with those two lovely ladies.

But he was hungry and that was partially behind him now, so he saw little harm in grabbing a bite or two in the restaurant. He continued on until he reached the door, then pulled it open and stepped inside.

He climbed up into a stool at the front counter and placed his hands down on its surface, waiting for someone to come. He began tapping his fingers in a rhythmic pattern as he waited. After a minute, he looked to the side and saw some other customers enjoying their meals. A man eating a roast beef sandwich saw Ed staring, and gave him a look of distaste.

Ed quickly turned his head away and continued tapping on the countertop. Shortly, Shirley, the lazy girl whom he didn't know why had not been fired for her lazy conduct, showed up. Seeing Ed, she approached him from her side of the counter. "Whattaya want?"

"Uh... A slice of pepperoni pizza and a coke please?"

"Right," Shirley said, then disappeared into that horrid backroom which he wished he'd never have to visit ever again.

Ed began tapping his fingers on the countertop again impatiently, thinking vaguely. All of a sudden, he felt clammy hands over his face, covering his eyes. He jumped a bit on the stool, almost slipping off.

The unannounced guest leaned forward and blew into his ear. Ed jumped again, the unexpected breeze tickling him.

"Guess who?" The unannounced guest whispered into the ear they had blown in.

There was no mistaking that soft Latin accent. "Why are you here, Nadia?" Ed asked, his eyes still sheathed by her hands.

"Shh shh. Come with me," Nadia whispered, still not removing her hands from his eyes. She nudged his body off of the stool and began to lead him down the restaurant.

"What are you doing? Where are we going?"

"Shhh.." Nadia whispered again.

"But my pizza!"

Nadia giggled, then as they reached the end of the restaurant, she looked both ways to make sure nobody was watching them, then reached out a hand and pushed open a door. She led Ed inside and locked the door.

"Nadia! I demand to know what you're doing!"

Nadia removed her hands from over his eyes finally and they adjusted to the fluorescent light. She had brought him to a bathroom. "Surprise!" She called happily.

"Surprise? Nadia... Are you crazy? This is completely inappropriate."

"Oh, you," She said playfully and giggled. She approached him and pinned him against the wall.

He backed his head away from her and looked up to he fluorescent lights, the bright light piercing his eyes. "I don't want this anymore. I never did," he said sincerely, looking into the light, refusing to look at Nadia.

"You tease." She kissed him on the chin.

He continued staring into the bright light. "I never wanted it to come down to this, but I'm afraid it's going to have to..."

She looked at his upturned head and ran his hair through her fingers. "Come down to what, my darling?"

"I'm telling Howard about this... this... this abomination!"

"You make me laugh, Ed. You're so funny," she tittered.

"I'm telling him and that's that. I gave you more than enough chances. But this was the last straw. It's all over now."

Nadia pulled away from him and eyed him with uncertainty. "You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, I would."

Nadia stared at him coldly for a moment more, then let out a long irritated sigh and stormed out of the bathroom.

Ed waited a few moments, then slowly slipped out of the bathroom as well. He brushed himself off as the door shut behind him. He could feel eyes on him and felt out of place. As he briskly marched away, he turned his head back to the door and saw that he had been in the Lady's Room.

Blushing, he walked all along the counterway. He reached the stool he had been sitting in before the disturbance, saw a cold slice of pizza and flat soda sitting on the counter, decided he had lost his appetite once more and continued out of the restaurant.

He didn't stop until he reached home.


	45. Chapter 45

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45

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The next day at the filming studio, he had the weight of telling Howard the horrible truth on his shoulders. He just couldn't find the right moment to tell. Every time there would be a chance and he began, something would always interrupt. Finally when they went back to Howard's house on break, Ed managed to once and for all let Howard know of his wife's disgusting habit.

Unsure of whether or not Nadia was in the house, he whispered. "Umm... Mr. Brinkley. There's something we need to talk about."

"What's that, Ed?" Howard replied, hunched over and rubbing some mud off of his shoes.

"Well... You see... Uh..."

"Yes?"

"Nadia..."

"Yes, what about Nadia?"

"She's not exactly the girl you think you've married."

"Not exactly the girl I think I've married? Huh? What does that mean?"

"She... She's very... alluring. Very... enticing."

"What exactly are you getting at, Edward?"

"She um... does things."

"What kinds of things?"

"Bad things."

"What? Does she pilfer? Swindle? Plunder? Embezzle?"

"No. None of those. Something more... Offensive."

"Then what? Spill it, boy."

Ed cleared his throat, then spoke softly and slowly, trying to pronounce each word carefully as though it would make some small difference on the larger scale of things. "Nadia has... more than once... seduced me."

Howard's eyes seemed to pop out of his head. "What?"

"Ever since that first night you invited Kathy and I over, it's been happening. And now she won't leave me alone! Oh, believe me, sir, I've told her to stop thousands of times. But she just won't listen! She's very persistent. And please don't be mad at me, Mr. Brinkley. I didn't want it. I wanted nothing to do with her at all! But she's just so powerful! And I have a hard time convincing people that 'no' means 'no'..."

Ed looked at Mr. Brinkley and saw that he had gone pale and looked rather sickly. "Mr. Brinkley? You alright?"

Mr. Brinkley cleared his throat a bit then replied, "Yeah... yeah." He got up from his chair and began adjusting his suit.

Suddenly, Nadia came out from the hallway, holding a handkerchief. She was crying endlessly into the piece of material and blowing her nose. Ed realized that she had probably been there the whole time listening and had heard everything. Nadia approached Howard and touched him lightly on the arm.

"I think I need a walk," Howard said with a wavering tone, then quickly rushed past Nadia.

"But Howard! Wait!" Nadia cried, rushing after him, but Howard had fled out the door before she could catch up with him.

Ed sat, watching in disbelief at the marriage he had just destroyed.

"I just love him so much," Nadia said through tears. She slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor. Crying in a mass of herself.

Ed felt out of place. He stuck out like a sore thumb. Like... a mouse in a room full of cats. He truly wanted to go over to Nadia and comfort her, but he knew it would be better if he didn't. He had no idea what he was going to do.

Oh peach tree, he thought dishearteningly.


	46. Chapter 46

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46

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Kathy looked at Ed from across the kitchen table. "What's wrong, pookie?" She asked, noticing that Ed wasn't very much looking like his normal, bubbly self that morning.

Ed stirred his spoon around in his bowl of oatmeal, disjointedly. "I think I did something terrible."

"Oh? What's that?" She asked, eating the oatmeal from off her spoon and plunging it into the bowl again for another refill.

"There's no need to make both of us feel down, kitten. It doesn't concern you, anyway."

"Okay," Kathy replied, simply. She knew that if Ed wanted her to know something, she'd know it. And obviously if it wasn't her concern then it really wasn't her concern. If he wanted to tell her, though, she'd be there for him.

Ed wondered how it had gone the other night over at the Brinkley residence. Had they talked? Had they not talked? He didn't know. And he supposed he wouldn't ever know unless one of them told him. He'd just have to wait until the next production day at the filming studio. Howard would probably fill him in on all of it... that is if Howard was still talking to him after this. He hoped this hadn't affected his and Howard's relationship. It wasn't his fault that Nadia was a perv. He hadn't wanted it. She was the bad guy. Not him. Case closed.

He still wanted to know how it went the other night, though. After sitting on the couch listening to Nadia cry, balled up in the corner on the floor for about half an hour, Ed had decided to slip out of the house through the back door. It seemed as though Nadia had needed some alone time, and Ed was damned if he was going to be the one to get in the way of it.

Perhaps Howard had never returned from his little walk? Suppose he was so stricken that he just kept walking and walking until he reached the bus station or something, hopped onto one of those big busses and left Hollywood, never to be seen again? It was a possibility. He couldn't rule it out. It stood its truthfulness.

It turned out that Ed's speculation about the couple had been half-right.

That morning as Howard awoke from his slumber, he stretched out and turned to Nadia's side only to find her missing. His heart began to race, then he remembered what had been divulged to him the previous day and his racing heart stopped racing and became heavy in his chest.

Nadia had insisted that she sleep on the couch until everything had been worked out amongst their relationship. Therefore, on the couch was where she would be. There was no need for panic of any sort.

Howard got out of bed, put on his slippers and bathrobe and began out of the bedroom. He walked along the hallway, which led to the living room. When he arrived, he approached the pull out couch and stood behind it. Then he looked down, expecting to see his wife whom he still cared for even though she had done something so terrible to him, but instead saw only an empty space.

He became worried again. But surely he was just kidding himself. She had to be in the kitchen, then. Preparing breakfast or something. He walked back down the hall and pushed open the kitchen door, hoping to see his lovely wife, yet when he entered the kitchen she was not there either.

"Nadia?" He called out into the empty house. His voice hit the walls and bounced off, creating an echo. The echo made him feel even more alone.

"Nadia?" He repeated, looking all around the kitchen. Where could she be?

Then his eye caught on a little piece of paper than had been put up with a magnet on the fridge. He walked toward the fridge, praying that the note would say that she had just went out for groceries or something and would be back later, but deep down inside he knew exactly what it would say.

He pulled the magnet from the fridge slowly, releasing the paper from its holding, then replaced it on the fridge. Howard held the paper at reading length and began deciphering the chickenscratch that lay before him.

Dear Howard,

I was so foolish. I love you.

But because I love you so much

I had to leave. I want you to

remember me as the girl you

married. Not anything else.

And my leaving will allow you

to do that.

With love always,

Nadia.

Howard held the paper a few minutes after he had finished reading it, taking in the smell of Nadia's perfume which it held. Hot tears came to his eyes and stung, then he placed the note in his right breast pocket for safe keeping, patted it to make sure it was secure and left the kitchen.


	47. Chapter 47

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47

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The next production day had not been until some days after the horrible incident had taken place. Howard came into the production studio, silent. Ed was anxious to know how everything was doing, but he certainly would not be one to pry into other people's lives. So he would have to wait until Howard came forth on his own with the juicy details Ed wanted to sink his teeth into as soon as possible.

But, as Ed had feared, Howard never did come forth with any juicy details and such. He kept his silence throughout the entire shooting except for the occasional yelling of 'cut' every now and then.

Werewolves ran out and about the set, chasing frightened humans. The craving of flesh of these werewolves, convincing to anyone in observation of the scene. But alas, when cut was yelled by Howard, they halted and the fine actors which bore the werewolf apparel removed their false fronts and stood as normal human beings just as they were when they came into the studio.

The shooting was going fairly well, with the exception of a few minor eyebrow-raising situations, which went away as quickly as they appeared. But Howard seemed entirely indifferent to his surroundings.

Every so often, Ed would throw a glance at Howard, wondering what quandary plagued this man's mind. He bit his nails down to the end, and finally during a break Ed could take no more.

As casually as he could being as anxious as he was, he cleared his throat and looked at Howard. "Uhh... so how are things at... home?"

Howard slowly turned his head to look in Ed's direction. He studied Ed for a moment, regarding a man that had a wife while he did not. A man that was partially the reason behind his loss. He continued to stare at Ed, his eyes becoming slitted, angry and scrutinizing. Then the clouds hindering his judgement cleared away and he realized that it was as much Ed's fault as it was his own.

He offered Ed a sort of crooked smile, then opened his mouth to speak. "She left me," he said simply.

Ed's mouth dropped open, gaping with a foolish look upon his face. "What!"

But Howard did not offer anymore information about the complexities of his life. He had already given too much.

Ed struggled to keep in his chair, he was slipping out and pawing around frantically for support, for the shock of what Howard had just divulged was too great of a thing to handle. And when it came to handling, Ed was about as able as a monkey handling antique china with his fingers covered in slippery soap.

At last after pawing away at the air around the chair, he slipped out and fell flat on his bottom. Ed looked up at Howard from his spot on the floor, still gaping.

"But-- Why--? Why would she--? Huh? But you... why would she leave you?" Ed finally managed to get out after so much fumbling.

Howard remained silent.

"I don't understand," Ed continued, as though Howard had said something.

Howard patted his right breast pocket, which now served as a home for his precious note Nadia had left him, offered the crooked smile once more. Then he stood up and walked away, off to the drink cart.

Ed was left alone on the floor in front of his chair, gaping after Howard, and completely puzzled at everything.


	48. Chapter 48

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48

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Ed did not pry into Howard's life further, and he half-regretted telling Kathy one night that week over dinner that Nadia had left him (although, she would have found out sooner or later when she would wonder why they were not being invited to the Brinkleys for dinner anymore).

The filming of his and Howard's movie ended right on Ed's scheduled time. And all the while, feeling happy that it was finally over, he still felt the sadness which usually came with the finishing of a movie; there would be no more days of going into the studio and working with the people he had been working so closely with and had grown to love.

Now Ed found himself one afternoon sitting in the viewing room with the changed Howard who, ever since the day Nadia had walked out on him, had taken on a depressed quality into his life. He was no longer the same, but now affected by the grievance of losing a loved one. It was as though Nadia had not left, but had died instead. The only difference was if she had died, Howard would know perfectly well where she was. But when you disappear from a person's life without death, but still vital, there is no way to know where they are and if you will ever see them again. And that is the worst possible case. Howard had every right to take on a sorrowful demeanor, as he would forever be without closure.

So as Ed glanced over at Howard from his seat in the viewing room, he felt a grievance of his own. Not for Nadia, but for Howard, this broken man to receive not one, but two heartbreaking matters in the same day.

But Howard did not notice Ed observing him, nor was he thinking about his life problems for once. He was too occupied with the viewing of the film he had created and now finished with Ed. After this viewing, if everything was alright and all in proper order, their work on the film would be entirely over and it would be sent away for processing and then releasing on the public level. Howard crossed his fingers, hoping that everything would be fine. They had already been into the editing room with the film perhaps about thirty times already, and he desperately did not want to visit a thirty-first time.

Ed suddenly leaned over to Howard. "Say, I was wondering if... well maybe... well you've had Kathy and I over for dinners so much already and you've never been to my house... and seeing as how you must be very lone-- Umm... I mean, would you like to come to dinner sometime this week? Just name the day and it's yours." Ed looked over at Howard, eagerly awaiting an answer.

Howard nodded slowly to himself, then looked at Ed with despair-filled eyes. "Ed... I know I should have told you this sooner, because I just know this is going to break your heart, but well... I'm only in Hollywood to make this movie. I was going to stay but now with the recent events and uh... well, once everything's all in order I'm heading back to my hometown in Kansas."

Ed looked at Howard, not wanting to comprehend the presented idea even though he did. He began to sniff and felt tears beginning to well up in the corners of his eyes. He was feeling like a fool for crying like a child in front of his idol and the man he respected, but couldn't help it. He was an extremely emotional man and the thought of Howard leaving him now was extraordinary to his mind. He had grown to love the man, just as he had grown to love Bela. And now, like Bela Lugosi, he was losing Howard. Just as Howard had lost Nadia. It seemed to Ed that so much departing in such a small period of time was somehow unlawful.

The beginning tears in his eyes only grew and grew until they began overflowing in the openings of his eyes and then streamed down his cheeks. He sniffed some more, then lifted his hand, trying to dry away the lamentation.

"Aww, Ed. Come here," Howard said, then embraced Ed.

It was the first time, in the short period he had known Howard that they had embraced. And all the years Ed had spent, admiring Howard from his own dwellings and wondering what it would be like to embrace his idol, he had never imagined that it would feel like this. He was not only embracing an idol, he was embracing a friend.


	49. Chapter 49

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49

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After one more revision of the film, it was noted that everything was in perfect function and the film would, after processing, soon be ready for release. Which meant that the next day, Howard would be on a plane, off to Kansas and out of Ed's life.

That night, the night before Howard would leave, Ed lay uncomfortable in his bed, unable to get to sleep. He tossed and turned on his side, wondering what was to become of the future. He felt extremely unfulfilled. As though there was something that could be done, but he was not doing it.

Then a thought came into his head: he would pay Howard one last visit before he was out and about. One last chance to say goodbye.

Ed reflected back, and remembered in a recent conversation that his plane to Kansas was leaving at nine a.m. sharp. That meant Ed should go see him perhaps around seven.

He rolled over in his mess of coverings and blankets that he had skewn about and reached out his hand to the alarm clock on the side table. He set it for six, then replaced it.

Then he fell asleep at last, feeling finally the fulfillment, which had before been missing but now was restored.

He would see Howard again.


	50. Chapter 50

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50

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Ed lay comfortably in his bed, a smile upon his face. The bright beams of sunlight coming in through the window with its curtains drawn away danced on his visage.

He let out a soft groan and slowly shifted his arms back, stretching out and yawning. He was mildly disconcerted at the brightness he could sense from under his closed eyelids.

_The brightness... _he thought, hazily. _The brightness..._

_The brightness!_

His eyes quickly fluttered open and he lay staring up at the bright morning sky. The sky was not supposed to be bright at this early of an hour! He shuffled, pulling himself in a sitting position on the bed, then grabbed the alarm clock from the side table. It read eight o'clock. The alarm hadn't gone off.

_The alarm hadn't gone off... The alarm hadn't gone off... THE ALARM HADN'T GONE OFF!_

It was useless now; he had lost his chance at seeing Howard one last time. Even if he was to do anything, he'd have to go directly to the airport rather than Howard's house and he would never be able to get there in time.

Nevertheless, Ed through the clock away carelessly and sprung to his feet. "Oh cream cheese on a stick!" He yelled, dashing out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. After several minutes, he emerged from the bathroom and ran back to the bedroom, dressing like a madmad.

"Cream cheese on a stick!" He yelled again, hopping out the doorway while trying to put his pants on. He entered the kitchen, saw that Kathy was busy preparing breakfast and moved past her to the cupboard. He pulled out a bowl and grabbed a box of cereal from off the counter.

"Ed, what's gotten into y--"

Ed quickly poured cereal into the bowl as steadily as he could (so steadily he got more cereal on the floor than in the bowl) then poured the contents of the bowl into his mouth and put the bowl and box down on the table.

He chewed his mouthful, kissed Kathy, and ran out of the kitchen and to the front door. Kathy came out and stood in the opening of the kitchen entry, watching Ed. "What are you doing?" She asked, bewildered.

"Can't talk now! Cream cheese on a stick!" He yelled, flung the front door open, almost making it fly off its hinges, then jumped outside, slamming the door behind him.

He ran all the way to Howard's house without taking a break. Hot, sweaty and out of breath, he stood at the doorway and knocked on the door.

"Mr. Brinkley?" Ed called, hoarsely.

There was no answer. He tried the doorhandle and found it unlocked. He stepped inside the house to find it bare of all furnishings. Clearly, Howard was gone.

"Cream cheese on a stick!" Ed yelled into the empty house, then ran outside and down the road. He flagged a nearby taxi, got in and slammed the door shut.

"Airport! Airport! Airport!" Ed yelled to the driver.

"Okay! Take it easy, fella," the driver replied, then stepped on the gas, flooring it all the way to the airport. Upon arrival, Ed jumped out, threw money at the driver, then ran into the building. He ran all the way to the front desk, muttering "Cream cheese on a stick" over and over again to himself. Finally he reached the front desk and demanded which way the flight to Kansas was.

The female at the front desk pointed him to the end of the building and he started to run.

"But sir! You need a ticket!" She called after Ed. But he did not hear her. He kept running and running, muttering the everlasting phrase of "Cream cheese on a stick."

Ed made it to the Kansas flight exit. He ran out the door and saw the plane some yards away. He looked at his watch and saw that it was five minutes to nine. He continued in a brisk run all the way to the plane's stairway.

He stopped and observed the stairway. A miracle! Halfway up the stairs was Howard!

"Mr. Brinkley! Howard Brinkley!" Ed called up the stairway.

Howard must not have heard him, for he did not turn around. "Oh cheese and crust!" Ed said to himself unhappily.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled again, "Mr. Brinkley!"

Howard stopped, held onto the railing and turned around. Confused, he looked for where the call had come from, then peered downwards to the ground where Ed stood. He shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand and observed Ed.

"Edward? What are you doing here?" He asked, the strong winds ruffling his clothing.

Against the high winds, Ed mounted the first few stairs, then shielded his own eyes from the sun and peered up at Howard, the breeze making his hair fly all aorund his head. "I had to see you one last time, sir."

"What a lovely gesture!" Howard remarked, delighted.

"I just wanted to say one last goodbye." His eyes were becoming wet.

"Well... Goodbye, Edward."

Ed's voice began to crack and waver. "Sir, will we ever meet again?"

Howard stood, looking down at Ed from his upper level of stairs. He smiled at him. "We'll see, Edward. We'll see."


End file.
